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5TATE OF CONNECTICUT 




SSirtfiilaLj of tfte ^tate o^ ©onriecticut, 



CELEBRATION 

OF THE 

TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY 

OF THE 

Adoption of the First Constitution 

OF THE 

STATE OF CONNECTICUT, 

BY THE 

/' 

Connecticut Historical Society and the Towns of Windsor, 
Hartford, and Wethersfield, 

THURSDAY, JANU'ARY 24TH, A. D. 18S9. 



-^..^prtftoAi? 



:^oN. 



HARTFORD, CONN.: 

Published t.y The Connecticut Historical Society, 

1889. 



The Case, lockwood & Brainard company 

PRINTERS AND BINDERS 

HARTFORD, CONN. 



V '^^ 



i 



CONTENTS. 



Preliminary Proceedings, 

Order of Exercises, 

Opening Remarks by Hon. Henry Barnard, 

Prayer by Rev. G. L. Walker, 

Address by Hon. Henry Barnard, 

First Constitution of Connecticut, 

Historical Address by Rev. J. H. Twichell, 

Benediction by Rev. Francis Goodwin, 

Evening Exercises, 

Address by Hon. H. C. Robinson, 

Hon. John Hooker, 

Hon. John H. Perry, . 

Hon. Alfred E. Burr, . 

Prof. Albert B. Hart, 

Hon. John G. Root, 

Hon. Joseph R. Hawley, 
Letter from Edward E. Hale, 

Robert C. Winthrop, . 

George E. Ellis, 

George F. Hoar, 

John Bach McMaster, . 

D. Williams Patterson, 

Justin Winsor, . 

W. S. Shurtleff, 

Edward Channing, 

Alexander Johnston, . 

Henry B. Harrison, 

Noah Porter, 

George Williamson Smith, 

John Williams, . 

O. H. Platt, 

Charles R. Ingersoll, . 

Richard A. Wheeler, . 

John M. Hall, . 



5 

9 

13 

14 

17 
20 
26 

54 
55 
57 
63 
73 
77 
84 

87 
89 

91 
91 
92 
92 
92 
93 
93 
93 
94 
95 
95 
96 
96 
96 

97 
97 
97 
98 



PRELIMINARY PROCEEDINGS. 



The first action of the Connecticut Historical Society with ref- 
erence to the celebration of the two hundred and fiftieth anniver- 
sary of the adoption of the first Constitution of the State of Con- 
necticut was taken on the third day of January, i388, when, upon 
motion of J. F. Morris, it was 

Voted, That a committee be appointed to prepare a plan 
looking to the celebration of the two hundred and fiftieth anni- 
versary of the establishment of the first Constitution in the 
Connecticut Colony; which anniversary will occur in January, 
1889 — and that the committee shall report at a future meeting. 

The following were appointed members of the committee : J. 
H. Trumbull, J. F. Morris, and C. J. Hoadly. 

At a meeting of the Society on the third of April, 1888, 
The committee appointed to consider the matter of a celebra- 
tion of the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the establish- 
ment of the Constitution of Connecticut, reported through Mr. J. 
F. Morris, but suggested no definite plan. After discussion by 
the president, Messrs. Morris, Hoadly, Stedman, and Adams, on 
motion, it was 

Voted, That S. W. Adams, and Jabez H. Hayden, Esq., of Wind- 
sor, be added to the committee, and that it be instructed to prepare 
an address to the people of the three towns, Windsor, Wethers- 
field, and Hartford, calling their attention to the matter, and 
asking their co-operation, the same to be published before the 
next meetin'T. 



6 PRELIMINARY PROCEEDINGS. 

On motion, it was 

Voted, That the committee be requested to report a plan for 
the appointment of committees to make arrangements for the 
celebration. 

At a meeting of the Society on the first of May, i8S8, 
Mr. J. F. Morris reported for the committee on the celebration 
of the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the establishment 
of the Constitution in Connecticut colony ; and said that so far 
as he could find out, the towns of Windsor and Wethersfield 
would be willing to co-operate with Hartford in such a celebra- 
tion ; but in what way or to what extent, he was not prepared to 
say. The committee were considering as the first, perhaps, and 
very necessary thing to be done, the selection of an orator ; no 
one had been chosen. The day settled upon is January 24, 1889. 
The report was accepted, the committee continued, and asked 
to report progress at a future meeting. 

At a meeting of the Society on the eighth of January, 1889, 
the following matter was brought forward in some remarks by 
J. F. Morris. John W. Stedman presented this resolution : 

Whereas, It is deemed proper by the Connecticut Historical 
Society, acting in its corporate capacity, to celebrate in a 
becoming manner the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of 
the establishment of a State Constitution, in the town of Hart- 
ford, by the settlers in the Valley of the Connecticut, therefore 

Resolved, That be appointed a committee 

of this society, empowered to make all the necessary arrange- 
ments for such a celebration as in their judgment may be appro- 
priate, and advertise the same in the public press of the State. 

Mr. Morris offered a verbal report from the committee appointed 
at the January meeting, 1888. He said they had eventually agreed 
to have a quiet celebration consisting of literary exercises, with 
an address by Rev. Joseph H. Twichell, in some church or public 
hall on the 24th inst. 



PRELIMINARY PROCEEDINGS. 7 

The resolution was passed, and on motion the President ap- 
pointed the following committee : 

Messrs. John W. Stedman (Chairman), Jonathan F. Morris, 
Charles J. Hoadly, Jabez H. Hayden (of Windsor Locks), 
Sherman W. Adams, Charles Hopkins Clark, and Edward D. 
Robbins (of Wethersfield), with power to add to their number. 

At the first meeting, Mr. Frank B. Gay was chosen Secretary, 
and Mr. C. H. Clark desiring to be excused, Mr. Stephen A. Hub- 
bard was appointed in his place. 

The general committee had frequent sessions. At their third 
meeting they were joined by the following committee, appointed 
to co-operate with the Society, by the General Assembly of the 
State : 

Hon. S. E. Merwin, Lieut.-Governor ; Hons. John M. Hall and 
E. S. Cleveland, on the part of the Senate ; Hon. John H. Perry, 
Speaker ; Hons. W. B. Glover and Frank E. Hyde, on the part 
of the House of Representatives. 

The following committees were assigned to carry out the 
detailed plans of the celebration, after the time and place for 
holding the same had been fixed upon, and the orator selected : 

On Invitatmi. — J. Hammond Trumbull and John W. Stedman. 

On Programme of Exercises. — J. Hammond Trumbull, J. F. 
Morris, S. A. Hubbard, and S, W. Adams. 

On Co-operation with the Towns. — J. H. Hayden, J. F. Morris, 
S. W. Adams, and C. J. Hoadly. 

On Reception. — Dr. W. A. M. Wainwright, Dr. Gurdon W. 
Russell, Rev. Francis Goodwin, James G. Batterson, Samuel 
Hart, D.D., Dr. E. K. Hunt, Rowland Swift, Charles B. Whiting, 
W. H. Gross, Stephen Terry, Charles R. Chapman, and Charles 
H. Clark. 

On Seating the G nests. — J. G. Rathbun, with power to appoint 
his assistants. 

Representatives of the Magistrates and Deputies of the first 
General Court. — John Hooker, Rev. Francis Goodwin, Thomas 



8 PRELIMINARY PROCEEDINGS. 

W. Loomis, Rev. Dr. Thomas R. Pyncheon, Henry C. Robinson, 
Dr. Pinckney W. Ellsworth, Timothy S. Phelps, Roger Welles, 
Jonathan F. Morris, James C. Pratt, Charles J. Hoadly, Alfred 
E. Burr, Jabez H. Hayden, H. Sidney Hayden, Horace Bower, 
John A. Stoughton, Silas W. Robbins, Sherman W. Adams, 
Stephen A. Hubbard, Elizur S. Goodrich, Winthrop Buck. 

Selectmen. — Horace H. Ellsworth, George W. Hodge, Fredus 
M. Case, for Windsor ; George W. Fowler, Thomas J. Blake, W. 
Westphal, William Berry, Ralph Foster, for Hartford ; Josiah G. 
Adams, Edwin F. Griswold, Willis W. Standish, for Wdhersfield. 



[Programme of thf: Services.] 

1639. ''^^9- 

ORDER OF EXERCISES 



(sefe€) rati Oil 



(5oF>9(^etieut J^istorieal 5oei<^ty 



Towns of Windsor, Hartford, and Wet/iersfdd, 



FIRST CONSTITUTION OF CONNECTICUT, 

[Adopted January 14, 1639, (O- S.) ] 

Held in Hartford, January 24, 18S9. 



10 25OTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE 



EXERCISES AT THE FIRST CHURCH. 



Voluntary — Organ. 

DR. N. H. ALLEN. 

Anthem — Pilgrim's Chorus, Verdi. 

" From afar, gracious Lord, Thou did'st gather Thy flock." 

Prayer — 

rev. george leon walker, d.d. 

Address — 

By Hon. HENRY BARNARD, LL.D., Senior Vice-Bresident 
of the Society. 

[President of the Day, in the absence of Hon. J. Hammond Trumbull, 
President of the Society.] 

Music. 

Reading of the Constitution of Connecticut, 
adopted 1639, 

By His Excellency MORGAN G. BULKELEY, 
Governor of Connecticut. 

Hymn — Leonard Bacon, D.D. 

HYMN, L. M. 

OGOD ! beneath thy guiding hand 
Our exiled fathers crossed the sea; 
And, when they trod the wintry strand, 

With prayer and praise they worshiped thee. 

Thou heard'st, well pleased, the song, the jiraycr ; 

Thy blessing came, and still its power 
Shall onward through all ages bear 

The memory of that holy hour. 



CONNECTICUT HISTORICAL SOCIETY. I I 

What change ! through pathless wilds no more 

The fierce and naked savage roams ! 
Sweet praise along the cultured shore 

Breaks from ten thousand happy homes. 

Laws, freedom, truth, and faith in God 

Came with these exiles o'er the waves ; 
And, where their pilgrim feet have trod. 

The God they trusted guards their graves. 

And hear thy name, O God of love ! 

Thy,children's children shall adore 
'Till these eternal hills remove. 

And Spring adorns the earth no more ! 

Historical Address — 

REV. JOSEPH HOPKINS TWICHELL. 
Hymn — Psalm Ixxviii. Isaac Watts, D.D. 

HYMN, C. M. 

LET children hear the mighty deeds 
Which God performed of old : 
Which in our younger years we heard, 
And which our fathers told. 

Our lips shall tell them to our sons, 

And they again to theirs, 
That generations yet unborn 

May teach them to their heirs. 

Thus shall they learn in God alone 

Their hope serenely stands ; 
That they may ne'er forget His works, 

But practice His commands. 

doxology. 
Benediction — 

REV. FRANCIS GOODWIN. 



12 



250Tn ANNIVERSARY OF THE ADOPTION OF 



EVENING EXERCISES 



caKcailermj o^ Muic^ic. 



1. Overture, 

2. Address, 

3. Address, 

4. Address, 

5. Address, 

6. Address, 

7. Address, 

8. Address, 



By Colt's Band. 

By Hon. Henry C. Robinson. 

By John Hooker, Esq. 

By Hon. John H. Perry. 

By Hon. Alfred E. Burr. 

By Prof. Albert B. Hart. 

By Mayor John G. Root. 

By Senator J. R. Hawley. 



9. Announcement of Letters of Regret. 



Connecticut's first constitution. 13 



EXERCISES AT THE CHURCH. 



OPENING REMARKS. 

BY THE HON. HENRY BARNARD, 

(Presiding officer of the occasion). 

We meet to-day on the invitation and under tlie auspices 
of the Connecticut Historical Society, to mark by suitable 
exercises the fifth jubilee — the 250th anniversary of the 
foundation of this public State or Commonwealth, and to 
bring into fresh remembrance the wisdom and virtues of the 
founders and the grandeur of their work. In the printed 
programme of the committee, our proceedings begin and end 
with sacred song and prayer. And now, it is at once our 
privilege and our duty, in this edifice, the fifth direct 
architectural succession of the first meeting-house, erected 
by the town for the worshiping of Almighty God, and for 
such public assemblages as the common weal might summon 
— near the spot where the founders were buried more than 
two hundred years ago — in this hour, and with these sur- 
roundings, it is our privilege to have our devotions led by 
the pastor of this church. 



14 25OTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ADOPTION OF 



PRAYER 

BY THE REV. GEORGE LEON WALKER, D.D., 

(Pastor of the First Church.) 

Almighty God, our Heavenly Father, Thou art our God, 
and we will praise Thee; our Fathers' God and we will 
exalt Thee. We would abundantly utter the memory of 
Thy great goodness and would sing of Thy righteousness. 

We humbly beseech Thee, from the throne of Thy glory, 
to behold with favor this assembly of Thy people nov/ gath- 
ered before Thee. We meet here to recount the mercies 
Thou hast showed unto us, and to those who have gone be- 
fore us, in this land of our pleasant habitation. Especially 
do we desire to give thanks unto Thee for the great benefits 
ministered unto us through the lives and the deeds of the 
founders, on this soil, of the civil and religious institutions 
here established. We bless thee that thou didst put it into 
the hearts of our fathers to forsake che land of their birth, 
and to come across the great waters into the wilderness, to 
plant here a free and godly commonwealth. 

We thank Thee for the courage and the patience with 
which they endured the hardships and overcame the ob- 
stacles belonging to this high endeavor. 

We praise thee for the foresight with which they planned ; 
for the wisdom with which they labored ; for the steadfast- 
ness with which they suffered. We thank Thee for the 
example we have in their history of Thy oft-time way of 
working, wherein Thou dost take the weak things of the 
world to confound the things that are mighty, and dost bring- 
about Thy divinest purposes through the instrumentality of 
the lowly and such as seem to have no strength. 



Connecticut's first constitution. 15 

Peculiarly do wc praise Thee, at this time, for the memory 
of Thy servant of this plantation's earliest day — leader of 
a pil-rim company to this spot — unto whom it was given by 
Thy good spirit resting upon him, so largely to outline and 
shape the fabric of this government under which we live. 
We bless Thee that thou didst take him, as it were, from the 
sheepfolds, from following the ewes great with young, and 
brought him to feed Jacob Thy people, and Israel Thine in- 
heritance. We thank thee for the great bestowment and 
grace dowered upon us, and upon the people of our whole 
land, through him and through those of wise and undcrstand- 
ino- hearts whom Thou didst associate with him, in the es- 
tablishment of this Christian State. We lift up our souls in 
gratitude for the many, in the successive generations since 
that far-off day, who have lived in the enjoyment of the 
privileges here made common to all ; who have labored for 
their perpetuity, or have died in their defence. 

And now we beseech Thee that we, upon whom these 
blessings have come, may not be unmindful of the obligations 
these favors have laid upon us. Make us worthy to be the 
successors and inheritors of those of whom, in their day, the 
world was so little worthy. May the goodly possession we 
have received as a legacy of piety and truth from their hands 
be transmitted unimpaired to those who shall come after us. 

To this end God bless our commonwealth with prosperity 
and peace. Let Thy favor rest upon its governor, its judges, 
and the framers of its laws. Let all who arc in places of 
authority remember that they are in trust for Thee and for 
those who have appointed them. Let all the inhabitants 
learn righteousness. 

Regard with eminent favor our churclies, that pure relig- 
ion may prevail among us; our schools of learning, that 
knowledge may be disseminated and increased ; our institu- 
tions of benevolence, that the sufferings of disease and 
poverty may be removed or lightened of the heaviest of their 
burden. 

Establish Thy covenant with our children, that the gener- 



l6 25OTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ADOPTION OF 

ation which is to come may know Thee, and forget not the 
works of God, but keep his commandments. 

Above all, help us with one mind to remember that we 
are but strangers and sojourners here, even as our fathers 
were. Be Thou with us as Thou wast with them, strengthen- 
ing for all present duty, and aiding in every forward look of 
faith and hope. Lead us, O Shepherd of Israel, through all 
the pilgrimage of this earthly life, and gather us at the end 
in the one fold of the holy on high : All which petitions 
we present in His name, who ever lives to make intercession 
for us — Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 



Connecticut's first constitution. 17 



ADDRESS. 

BY HON. HENRY BARNARD, 

(From the Hartford Couraiifs Report, January 25th.) 

After extending a welcome in behalf of the society, to the 
chief magistrate and officers of the State, to the representa- 
tives of the original Connecticut, and of the now larger State, 
and to the children of the citizens who went out from the 
original State and had returned to this gathering. Dr. Bar- 
nard said : 

Two hundred and seventy years ago the first New England 
settlement was made on the rock of Plymouth. 

Two hundred and sixty years ago the settlements had so 
increased on the borders of Massachusetts Bay that the new- 
comers found neither room for their herds nor homes. They 
asked permission of the authorities to move to the westward. 

Two hundred and fifty years only, or a little more, have 
transpired since the first settlement was made on the banks 
of the Connecticut. The settlers came with their horses 
and cattle, their implements and their arms, their household 
goods, and all the necessaries of life. The settlements at 
Watertowne, Dorchester, and Newtowne, were founded, to 
be soon changed to Wethersfield, Windsor, and Hartford. 
Then, without permission of colony or mother country, they 
met in council, and formed a Constitution under the princi- 
ples laid down by Hooker in a sermon preached to his con- 
gregation the year before, and which, after the lapse of more 
than two hundred years, was rescued from oblivion by the 
philological insight of our learned president. Dr. Trumbull. 
This convention was held in the meeting-house, as it was 
called, of the First Church of Christ, in Hartford. There 
3 



1 8 25OTII ANNIVERSARY OF THE ADOPTION OF 

they adopted the first written ordinance of government, in 
what they called its Fundamental Orders, till then without 
the name of Constitution, in history. This Constitution 
was not a consolidation of these towns, nor was it simply a 
union, but rather a democracy of towns and people. But 
while it recognized the organization of the towns, it also 
recognized the people as represented by magistrates and 
delegates of their own choice. 

For one hundred and fifty years our fathers were so busy 
making history that they forgot to preserve and look after 
its monuments, except to preserve the records of the town 
meetings, the courts, and matters of legislation ; but not re- 
flecting that these records might be destroyed, they did not 
entrust them to that art preservative of all arts — printing. 
Hence it was found by our own governor (Trumbull), when 
he had occasion to look up some records, that some of the 
links were missing. This led him to ask power from the 
legislature to provide for the collection and preservation of 
such records and other materials of history. 

About this time one of our own citizens (Webster) made 
the discovery of an early history of IMassachusetts (Win- 
throp's), and through his efforts it was committed to the press. 
At nearly the same time the Historical Society of Massa- 
chusetts was founded, and into this society all these docu- 
ments, in some thirty volumes of the Trumbull papers, passed, 
and became the property of a sister State. At about this 
date also Timothy Dwight, president of Yale college, added 
to the ordinary objects of a scientific society that of collect- 
ing the history of the towns of Connecticut. About a half 
century later, through the exertions of two or three men, 
the original Connecticut Historical Society was formed, but 
its action was soon discontinued by the accidental dispersion 
of two or three of its members; and it was not till 1839 that 
a few of our citizens organized this society for the work of 
historical discussion, research, and collection. 

If we act out to the full circumference of our duty to tlie 
present ; if we provide institutions of learning of every grade ; 



CONNECTICUT S FIRST CONSTITUTION. I9 

if we perfect our schools, and universities, and libraries, and 
thus give means of universal development ; if we purify the 
politics and political institutions of to-day; we shall in real- 
ity work for the prosperity of all future generations. We 
cannot better anticipate their wants than by a wise provision 
for our own. And then having completed our duties, we 
may welcome them in their long succession in the language 
of Webster, which has come echoing down to us through 
seventy years : 

" Advance then, ye future generations ! We would hail 
you as you rise in your long succession, to fill the places 
which we now fill, and to taste the blessings of existence 
where we are passing, and soon shall have passed our own 
human duration. We bid you welcome to this pleasant land 
of the fathers. We bid you welcome to the healthful skies 
and the verdant fields of New England. We greet your 
accession to tl^c great inheritance which we have enjoyed. 
We welcome you to the blessings of good government and 
religious liberty. We welcome you to the treasures of 
science and the delights of learning. We welcome you to 
the transcendent sweets of domestic life, to the happiness of 
kindred, and parents, and children. We welcome you to the 
immeasurable blessings of rational existence, the immortal 
hope of Christianity, and the light of everlasting truth ! " 



20 250Tn ANNIVERSARY OF THE ADOPTION OF 



READ BY HIS EXCELLENCY, 

MORGAN G. BULKELEY, 

Governor of Connecticut. 



The "Fundamental Orders;" 1638-9. 

THE FIRST CONNECTICUT CONSTITUTION. 

Forasmuch as it hath pleased the Ahnighty God by the 
wise disposition of his divine providence so to order and dis- 
pose of tilings that we the Inhabitants and Residents of 
Windsor, Hartford, and Wethersfield are now cohabiting and 
dwelling in and upon the River of Connectecotte and the 
lands thereunto adjoining ; and well knowing where a peo- 
ple are gathered together the word of God requires that to 
maintain the peace and union of such a people there should 
be an orderly and decent Government established according 
to God, to order and dispose of the affairs of the people at 
all seasons as occasion shall require ; do therefore associate 
and conjoin ourselves to be as one Public State or Common- 
wealth ; and do for ourselves and our Successors and such 
as shall be adjoined to us at any time hereafter, enter into 
Combination and Confederation together, to maintain and 
preserve the liberty and purity of the Gospel of our Lord 
Jesus which we now profess, as also the discipline of the 
Churches, which according to the truth of the said Gospel 
is now practiced amongst us ; as also in our Civil Affairs to 



Connecticut's first constitution. 21 

be guided and governed according to such Laws, Rules, 
Orders, and Decrees as shall be made, ordered, and decreed, 
as followeth : — 

1. It is Ordered, sentenced, and decreed, that there shall 
be yearly two General Assemblies or Courts, the one the 
second Thursday in April, the other the second Thursday 
in September following ; the first shall be called the Court 
of Election, wherein shall be yearly chosen from time to 
time so many Magistrates and other public Officers as shall 
be found requisite : Whereof one to be chosen Governor 
for the year ensuing and until another be chosen, and no 
other Magistrate to be chosen for more than one year ; pro- 
vided always, there be six chosen besides the Governor, 
which being chosen and sworn according to an Oath 
recorded for that purpose, shall have power to administer 
justice according to the Laws here established, and for want 
thereof, according to the rule of the Word of God ; which 
choice shall be made by all that are admitted freemen and 
have taken the Oath of Fidelity, and do cohabit within 
this Jurisdiction (having been admitted Inhabitants by the 
major part of the Town wherein they live)* or the major 
part of such as shall be then present. 

2. It is Ordered, sentenced, and decreed, that the Elec- 
tion of the aforesaid Magistrates shall be on this manner : 
every person present and qualified for choice shall bring in 
(to the persons deputed to receive them) one single paper 
with the name of him written in it whom he desires to have 
Governor, and he that hath the greatest number of papers 
shall be Governor for that year. And the rest of the Mag- 
istrates or public Officers to be chosen in this manner : the 
Secretary for the time being shall first read the names of 
all that are to be put to choice and then shall severally nom- 
inate them distinctly, and every one that would have the 
person nominated to be chosen shall bring in one single 



* This clause was interlined in a different handwriting and is of a later date. 
It was adopted by the General Court of November, 1643. 



22 25OTIT ANNIVERSARY OF THE ADOPTION OF 

paper written upon, and he that would not have him chosen 
shall bring in a blank : and every one that hath more 
written papers than blanks shall be a Magistrate for that 
year ; which papers shall be received and told by one or 
more that shall be then chosen by the court and sworn to 
be faithful therein ; but in case there should not be six 
chosen as aforesaid, besides the Governor, out of those 
which are nominated, then he or they which have the most 
written papers shall be a Magistrate or Magistrates for the 
ensuing year, to make up the aforesaid number. 

3. It is Ordered, sentenced, and decreed, that the Secre- 
tary shall not nominate any person, nor shall any person be 
chosen newly into the Magistracy, which was not propounded 
.in some General Court before, to be nominated the next 
Election ; and to that end it shall be lawful for each of the 
Towns aforesaid by their deputies to nominate any two 
whom they conceive fit to be put to election; and the Court 
may add so many more as they judge requisite. 

4. It is Ordered, sentenced, and decreed, that no person 
be chosen Governor above once in two years, and that the 
Governor be always a member of some approved congrega- 
tion, and formerly of the Magistracy within this Jurisdic- 
tion ; and all the Magistrates, Freemen of this Common- 
wealth : and that no Magistrate or other public officer shall 
execute any part of his or their office before they are sev- 
erally sworn, which shall be done in the face of the court if 
they be present, and in case of absence by some deputed for 
that purpose. 

5. It is Ordered, sentenced, and decreed, that to the 
aforesaid Court of Election the several Towns shall send 
their deputies, and when the P31ections are ended they may 
proceed in any public service as at other Courts. Also the 
other General Court in September shall be for making of 
laws, and any other public occasion, which concerns the 
sood of the Commonwealth. 

6. It is Ordered, sentenced, and decreed, that the Gov- 
ernor shall, either by himself or by the secretary, send out 



CONNECTICUT S FIRST CONSTITUTION. 23 

summons to the constables of every Town for the calling 
of these two standing Courts, one month at least before 
their several times : And also if the Governor and the 
greatest part of the Magistrates see cause upon any special 
occasion to call a General Court, they may give order to the 
Secretary so to do within fourteen days' warning : and if 
urgent necessity so require, upon a shorter notice, giving 
sufficient grounds for it to the deputies when they meet, or 
else be questioned for the same; And if the Governor and 
major part of Magistrates shall either neglect or refuse to 
call the two General standing Courts or either of them, as 
also at other times when the occasions of the Common- 
wealth require, the Freemen thereof, or the major part of 
them, shall petition to thorn so to do ; if then it be either 
denied or neglected, the said Freemen, or the major part of 
them, shall have power to give order to the Constables of 
the several Towns to do the same, and so may meet 
together, and clioose to themselves a Moderator, and may 
proceed to do any act of jDOwer which any other General 
Court may. 

7. It is Ordered, sentenced, and decreed, that after there 
are warrants given out for any of the said General Courts, 
the Constable or Constables of each Town shall forthwith 
give notice distinctly to the inhabitants of the same, in some 
public assembly or by going or sending from house to house, 
that at a place or time by him or them limited and set, they 
meet and assemble themselves together to elect and choose 
certain deputies to be at the General Court then following 
to agitate the affairs of the Commonwealth ; which said 
deputies shall be chosen by all that are admitted Inhabitants 
in the several Towns and have taken the oath of fidelity ; 
l^rovided that none be chosen a Deputy for any General 
Court which is not a Freeman of this Commonwealth. 

The aforesaid deputies shall be chosen in manner follow, 
ing : every person that is present and qualified as before 
expressed, shall bring the names of such, written in several 
papers, as they desire to have chosen fur that emplo}'ment, 



24 250TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ADOPTION OF 

and these three or four, more or less, being the number 
agreed on to be chosen for that time, that have greatest 
number of papers written for them shall be deputies for that 
Court ; whose names shall be endorsed on the back side of 
the warrant and returned into the Court, with the constable 
or constables' hand unto the same. 

8. It is Ordered, sentenced, and decreed, that Windsor, 
Hartford, and Wethersfield shall have power, each Town, to 
send four of their Freemen as their deputies to every Gen- 
eral Court ; and whatsoever other Towns shall be hereafter 
added to this Jurisdiction, they shall send so many deputies 
as the Court shall judge meet, a reasonable proportion to 
the number of Freemen that are in the said Towns being to 
be attended therein ; which deputies shall have the power of 
the whole Town to give their votes and allowance to all such 
laws and orders as may be for the public good, and unto 
which the said towns are to be bound. 

9. It is Ordered and decreed, that the deputies thus 
chosen shall have power and liberty to appoint a time and 
a place of meeting together before any Geneial Court, to 
advise and consult of all such things as may concern the 
good of the public, as also to examine their own Elections, 
whether according to the order, and if they or the greatest 
part of them find any election to be illegal they may seclude 
such for present from their meeting, and return the same 
and their reasons to the Court ; and if it prove true, the 
Court may fine the party or parties so intruding, and the 
Town, if they see cause, and give out a warrant to go to a 
new election in a legal way, either in part or in whole. Also 
the said deputies shall have power to fine any that shall be 
disorderly at their meetings, or for not coming in due 
time or place according to appointment ; and they may re- 
turn the said fines into the Court if it be refused to be paid, 
and the Treasurer to take notice of it, and to escheat or levy 
the same as he does other fines. 

10. It is Ordered, sentenced, and decreed, that every 
General Court, except such as through neglect of the Gov- 



CONNECTICUT S FIRST CONSTITUTION. 2$ 

ernorand the greatest part of Magistrates the Freemen them- 
selves do call, shall consist of the Governor, or some one 
chosen to moderate the Court, and four other Magistrates at 
least, with the major part of the deputies of the several 
7'owns legally chosen ; and in case the Freemen, or major 
part of them, through neglect or refusal of the Governor 
and major part of the Magistrates, shall call a Court, it shall 
consist of the major part of Freemen that are present or 
their deputies, with a Moderator chosen by them : In 
which said General Courts shall consist the supreme power 
of the Commonwealth, and they only shall have power to 
make laws or repeal them, to grant levies, to admit of Free- 
men, dispose of lands undisposed of, to several Towns or 
persons, and also shall have power to call either court or 
Magistrate or any other person whatsoever into question for 
any misdemeanor, and may for just causes displace or deal 
otherwise according to the nature of the offence ; and also 
may deal in any other matter that concerns the good of this 
Commonwealth, except election of Magistrates, Avhich shall 
be done by the whole body of Freemen. 

In which Court the Governor or Moderator shall have 
power to order the Court, to give liberty of speech, and 
silence unseasonable and disorderly speakings, to put all 
things to vote, and in case the vote be equal to have the 
casting voice. But none of these Courts shall be adjourned 
or dissolved without the consent of the major part of the 
Court. 

I r. It is Ordered, sentenced, and decreed, that when any 
General Court upon the occasions of the Commonwealth 
have agreed upon any sum or sums of money to be levied 
upon the several Towns within this Jurisdiction, that a 
committee be chosen to set out and appoint what shall be 
the proportion of every Town to pay of the said levy, pro- 
vided, the committee be made up of an equal number out 
of each Town. 

14th January, 1638 [N. S., 24th January, 1639], the 11 
Orclers abovesaid are voted. 



26 25OTII ANNIVERSARY OF THE ADOPTION OF 



HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 

BY THE REV. JOSEPH H. TWICHELL. 

Mr. President; Gentlemen of the Connecticut Historical Society; 
Your Excellency ; Honorable Members of the Senate and 
House of Representatives; and Fellow-Citizens: 

Two hundred and fifty years ago to-day there were assem- 
bled in this town a company of men, probably somewhat 
above two hundred in number, the same being the body 
of the male adults of the three plantations of Wethersfield, 
Windsor, and Hartford, constituting the Connecticut Colony, 
then less than three years old. To this gathering, plodding 
along the miry or snowy paths, on foot most of them, 
among those who came up from Wethersfield, with Magis- 
trates Andrew Ward and William Swain, were men of 
the not unfamiliar names of Foote, Adams, Goodrich, Mitch- 
ell, Hubbard, Sherman, Robbins ; and among those coming 
down from Windsor, with Pastor Warham and Magistrates 
William Phelps and Rodger Ludlow (lately Deputy Governor 
of Massachusetts Bay), and Captain John Mason, and Con- 
stable Henry Wolcott ; men of the names of Grant, Gay- 
lord, Gillette, Clark, Holcomb ; and among the men 
of Hartford, who, with Pastors Hooker and Stone and 
Magistrates Welles, Steele, and Haynes (lately Governor of 
Massachusetts Bay), who greeted their arrival, those of the 
names of Allyn, Hopkins, Wadsworth, Goodman, Olmsted, 
Talcott, Pratt, Hosmer. 

The place of their assemblage was the town meeting- 
house, which stood nearly upon the site of the former State 
Capitol, now the City Hall of Hartford. They were present 
in their capacity of freemen of their several towns, and for 



CONNECTICUT S FIRST CONSTITUTION. 2/ 

the purpose of framing for themselves "an orderly and 
decent government " ; which purpose they accomplished by 
then and there adopting a Constitution of eleven "Orders" 
or Articles to be the supreme civil law of their community ; 
so, according to their own expression, "associating and con- 
joining themselves to be as one public State or common- 
wealth." 

It is evident that the business had been amply canvassed 
and prepared beforehand, since one brief winter day sufficed 
to bring it to a conclusion. But thus our State of Connecti- 
cut was born ; or rather I should say was born into terms of 
a more formal and finished incorporation ; for it existed 
already in fact, as will be hereafter considered. 

Not at all impressive in its externals — except it must 
have been marked by impressiveness of face and demeanor, 
and certainly by impressiveness of speech — this occasion 
was of a character so extraordinary, and drew in its train 
consequences of such a nature and of such magnitude, as to 
constitute it undoubtedly the most memorable occasion 
of the modern ages. 

That assemblage was the first of its kind ever held — 
a convention met to provide a permanent general govern- 
ment for a people, in which the people all took part. The 
eleven "Orders" or Articles in which that unique popular 
convention embodied the law of the new State, was " the 
first written Constitution in the history of nations." The 
government under that law which it ordained was the 
first government of laiv alone, alike for magistrate and for 
private citizen, that was ever framed. 

In the institution of this government there was recoEfnized 
no outside human authority whatsoever as the source and 
basis of its powers. It was to be " established according to 
God," but no King, nor charter, nor Parliament, nor pre- 
viously existing government had mention in the instrument 
upon which it was organized. The Connecticut Constitution 
of 1639 ^'^s the first, the original, practical assertion on 
earth of the democratic idea of government, of the principle 



28 250TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ADOPTION OF 

that " governments derive their just powers from the consent 
of the governed." In none other of the American colonies 
had this principle, at that time, any place. There was, to be 
sure, popular suffrage at Plymouth, but distinctly on a 
religious rather than a political construction of its purport. 
The Mayflower cabin compact, sometimes denominated the 
dawning point of American democracy, had formally ac- 
knowledged the King as the source of all authority. The 
government of the mother colony of Massachusetts was a 
government by royal charter, and at that time was exercised 
by a magistracy in limited association with a privileged class 
of freemen. It was the same in the New Haven colony, 
which was then and for twenty-six years thereafter a sepa- 
rate jurisdiction. 

It does not in any respect exceed the strict truth to 
affirm, as does our latest historian. Professor Johnston, of 
Princeton College, — whose compendious little book, let me 
say, is a masterly piece of work and ought to be in every 
home in the State — that "the government of the people, 
by the people, for the people, first took shape in Connecti- 
cut," and that "the American form of commonwealth origi- 
nated here and not in Massachusetts, Virginia, or any other 
colony," — that "the birth-place of American democracy is 
Hartford." The same admirable writer, expressing the hope 
that this day would not pass without some proper celebra- 
tion amongst us of the great deed the men of Wethersfield, 
Windsor, and Hartford performed two centuries and a half 
ago, announces as the result of his most thoughtful and 
mature survey of it, the conviction that it is " the most far- 
reaching political work of modern times," from which direct 
lines of communication run down "to all the great events 
v/hich followed, to commonwealth organization and colonial 
resistance, to national independence and federation, to 
national union and organization, and even to national self- 
preservation and reconstruction." 

In contemplating our fathers engaged so long ago in this 
work, which time has discovered to have been so grandly 



CONNECTICUT S FIRST CONSTITUTION. 29 

done, the question arises concerning tJicir thought of it. 
What measure of it did they themselves take .-* How con- 
scious were they of its import .'* 

Dr. Horace Bushnell, — dear and venerable name, starred 
forever in the roll of Connecticut's noblest sons, — in his nota- 
ble address before the New England Society of New York, 
in 1849, S'^ys that they were largely ///^conscious of the 
meaning of it, and were great in that unconsciousness. 
Which, as regards foresight of its outcome, of its scope in 
relation to the future, is certainly true. They considered, 
indeed, that they were building for their posterity, and spoke 
of it ; but though there were among them men, by learning 
and by perusal of the ways of Providence, as capable of 
seership as any, there is no evidence that of the mighty un- 
foldings that lay beyond the horizon of their day, they had 
even the dimmest anticipation. It is more than a genera- 
tion later, that Cotton Mather, in one of his magniloquent 
prefaces, addressed to the churches of the Colony of Con- 
necticut, speaks of them as having been in the providence of 
Heaven, "whereby the bounds of people are set," carried so 
far westward, " that some have pleasantly said the last con- 
flict with anti-Christ must be in your colony." 

They were here mainly for religion. As they were 
guided in their journey hither through the untracked wil- 
derness by the compass, so having arrived, they sought only, 
in what they should establish, to be guided by the mind 
of God. And thus with present dut)', so highly conceived, 
alone in view, they laid their lines, unwittingly, in a wisdom 
that was to prove wisdom and supreme statesmanship on 
and on in all those vast outgrowths and fulfillments ahead 
which they saw not. Faithful in that which was least 
they were faithful also in much, according to the divine 
rule. 

Yet there is, too, a sense in which they did well under- 
stand what they were doing, and were great in their con- 
sciojisness. They understood that they were instituting 
a scheme of civil government without precedent ; that they 



30 25OTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ADOPTION OF 

were founding their State on a principle of authority that in 
that province was new. Of which there is abundant testi- 
mony of one kind and another. Dr. Leonard Bacon — 
again a dear and venerable name — has called attention to 
what he regards a striking sign thereof which appears in the 
letter of the Constitution itself, viz.: in the repeated formula 
of adoption prefixed to- its several articles. The conven- 
tional phrase *' Be it enacted," as traditionally prefixed to 
each section of a parliamentary statute, bore originally, as he 
expounds, a meaning of petition ; may it be enacted, i. e., 
by the sovereign. This phrase those men of Wethersfield, 
Windsor, and Hartford rejected, substituting for it in every 
instance, " it is ordered, sentenced and decreed," and they 
must have done it intelligently, and as signifying that they 
held their action subject to no review, confirmation, or veto 
by any outside authority. To be sure, there was no juris- 
diction over them claimed tJiis side of the Atlantic, or any- 
where else — audibly to them at all events ; and we may well 
suppose that they regarded themselves hid away by distance 
and obscurity and insignificance — as in fact they were — 
from observation the other side of the Atlantic. (There 
was no other colony, it should be considered, that was free 
to do what they did.) It was not a note of defiance and re- 
volt that they thus sounded. It only showed that they were 
distinctly aware of founding a government on the sole 
authority, under God, of the will of the people. 

Another mark of their clear minds as to the peculiarity 
of the political structure they were creating appears also in 
the Constitution. It appointed the holding at such and such 
times, of two assemblies or courts, the one a court of elec- 
tion to choose a Governor and six magistrates, the other 
a general court, composed of the Governor and magistrates 
and a body of deputies elected by the towns, not exceeding 
four from each, to meet " for making of laws and any other 
public occasion which concerns the good of the common- 
wealth." It was made the duty of the Governor to issue 
seasonable notice for the convening: of these courts. It 



Connecticut's first constitution, 31 

was also made the duty of the Governor, with the concur- 
rence of a majority of the magistrates, upon the arising 
of any need therefor, to call special meetings of the same. 
It provided, furthermore, that if the Governor and major 
part of the magistrates " shall either neglect or refuse to 
call the two general standing courts, or either of them, 
as also at other times when the occasions of the common- 
wealth require ; the freemen thereof, or the major part 
of them, shall petition them to do so ; if, then, it be 
either denied or neglected, tlie said frceuicii, or the major 
part of them, shall have power to give order to the Con- 
stables of the several towns to do the same, and so may 
meet together and choose to themselves a moderator, and 
may proceed to do any act of power, which any other gen- 
eral court may." 

The sense of which is very unmistakable. They definitely 
meant a democracy and nothing else. 

But in order to have before us the full proof that such 
was their counsel ; that their action was not anything they 
happened upon ; was not extempore or dictated by present 
convenience, but was of principle, and by them profoundly 
understood, we shall have to go back a space in history and 
note certain antecedents of the situation that go far to ex- 
plain this, its so famous events, and not only so, but to ex- 
plain the existence of the Connecticut colony. For the fact 
is, as we shall see, our forefathers of the colony came to 
Connecticut as much as for anything else, to say the least, 
to do that thing. 

During the three or four years of the great Puritan influx 
beginning with 1630, the greater part of those who later 
settled our three river towns emigrated from England and 
became founders and inhabitants of Dorchester, Newtown 
(now Cambridge), and Watertovvn, in Massachusetts. There 
they were under jurisdiction of the Massachusetts Bay 
colony. The administration of affairs in that colony was by 
its charter originally intrusted to a magistracy consisting of 
a governor, deputy governor, and eighteen assistants to be 



32 250Tn ANNIVERSARY OF THE ADOPTION OF 

elected by the freemen. But four times a year the magis- 
trates and the freemen were to meet in a general court, " with 
full power to choose and admit into the company so many as 
they should think fit, to elect and constitute all requisite 
subordinate officers, and to make laws and ordinances for the 
welfare of the company, and for the government of the lands, 
and the inhabitants of the plantation." A liberal charter, 
astonishingly so, considering that it was the grant of King 
Charles I. ; and that, only a few days before, in 1629, he pro- 
claimed his design of thereafter ruling England without the 
aid of Parliament. It only substantiates the truth of what 
Mr. Bancroft says, that the early New England community 
was " so humble that no statesman condescended to notice it." 
The liberal charter of the Bay colony was, indeed, too 
liberal. So thought many of the leaders of the colony, the 
men chief in wealth, social rank, and influence ; so thought 
Governor John Winthrop ; so thought the assistants, most 
of them ; so thought a majority of the ministers, /. c, if you 
construed it to mean — which they did not — that the free- 
men might have a controlling voice in affairs, or equal 
authority with the magistrates ; or, for that matter, any 
authority at all except to choose the magistrates. So thought 
not, it presently transpired, a considerable element among 
the freemen. There was difficulty in adjusting the relations 
of magistrates and people from the very outset ; and it was 
long continued. It lasted — the conflict assuming various 
phases in turn — till near the end of the century. At first, 
the freemen, largely it would seem under the advice of the 
ministers, gave ground, and consented to the supremacy of 
the magistrates. At the first general court held October 
19, 1630, it was propounded as the best course to be adopted 
in government " that the freemen should have power of 
choosing assistants, the assistants to choose from amongst 
themselves a governor and deputy, which governor and 
deputy, with the assistants, should hav^e the power of making 
laws and choosing officers to execute the same," and to this 
the freemen, numbering about one hundred and twenty, 



CONNFXTICUT S FIRST CONSTITUTION. 33 

agreed, i. e., to this iisurj^ation — for such it actually was. 
But it was a few months only after the arrival ; the colony was 
in bitter straits of want ; all were in distress together ; how 
to keep alive was the main concern ; it was really a make- 
shift policy prescribed by necessity ; and the usurped powers 
were mildly used. However, the year following-, in 163 1, 
the freemen defined their right to elect the assistants to be 
the right to elect them atuinally, and to remove them for 
cause. But this check upon the government was more 
than offset b}^ the decree of the authorities that same year, 
prompted by uneasiness at the number of new arrivals 
seeking admission to the list of freemen, that thereafter none 
should be endowed with " the liberties of the commonwealth," 
i. ('., with the gift of the elective franchise, but members of 
the church, — -than which probably no limitation of civil 
privilege was ever better intended. 

The magistrates had gathered the reins of government 
into their hands, but matters would not so rest. With 
easier times, which were not long delayed, freeing the minds 
of the people to give thought to the political situation — to 
attend to their general interests, and to mark the doings of 
the powers that were — there straightway arose discontent, 
criticism, dissension, debate, and a disposition clearly mani- 
fest not to leave things as they were — to undo some things. 
The towns made trouble about accepting the acts of the 
government in various cases — conspicuously the three 
towns which subsequently migrated to Connecticut. Why, 
could be considerably explained, perhaps, might we extend 
our notice of antecedents further back still across the ocean ; 
but so it was. 

In i63i,Watertown, for instance, by advice of their pastor 
Phillips, and elder Brown, " delivered to the people assembled " 
that it "was not safe to pay moneys after that sort for 
fear of bringing themselves and their posterity into bond- 
age," resisted the decree of an assessment, and had to be 
managed ; Governor Winthrop explaining to the malcontents, 
as he recites in his journal, "that this government was of 

5 



34 25OTII ANNIVERSARY OF THE ADOPTION OF 

the nature of a parliament, and that no assistant could be 
chosen but by the freemen, who had power likewise to re- 
move the assistants ; whereupon," he says, "they were fully 
satisfied, and so their submission was accepted and their 
offense pardoned." But their penitence was not lasting-. 

In 1632, the governor had to go to Newtown to compose, 
with the help of mediating friends, a serious difficulty with 
his own deputy, Thomas Dudley, residing there, relating in 
part to the " ground and limits of the governor's official 
authority whereby patent or otherwise," the contention be- 
tween them being very hot and failing to be composed then 
or at any time ; notwithstanding (so the governor records) 
" they usually met about their affairs, and that without any 
appearance of any breach or discontent, and ever after kept 
peace and good correspondency together in love and friend- 
ship." Which was true, no doubt, for they were warmly 
attached Christian friends, but differed in politics. 

Simultaneously, in Dorchester the same temper of jealousy 
and recalcitration was awake, as we may judge from the cir- 
cumstance that a little later Israel Stoughton, a deputy to 
the general court from that town (it was the first year such 
town representatives were conceded place in the court, and 
then to vote on the taxes, not on the laws,) was sentenced 
to three years' disfranchisement as the penalty of uttering 
the heresy that the charter made the power of the governor 
and assistants " Diinisterial according to the greater vote of 
the general court, and not magisterial according to their own 
discretion." Later yet (in 1635), the same offender in a 
private letter described the political condition of the colony 
at that initial stage thus : " When I came into the country, 
and for one whole year after, the government was solely in 
the hands of the assistants. The people chose their magis- 
trates, and then they made laws, disposed of lands, raised 
moneys, punished offenders, etc., at their discretion ; neither 
did the people know the patent, nor what prerogative and 
liberty they had of the same." 

Before this time, though, the people did know something 



CONNECTICUT S FIRST CONSTITUTION. 35 

on those points, for the concession of a representation of the 
towns in the general court, witli such voice therein as I have 
just stated, had ensued upon the towns, by a committee of 
two from each, going to Boston and asking for a sight of the 
charter, which having seen, " they conceived thereby," says 
Winthrop, " that all their laws should be made at the general 
court, and repaired to the governor (/. e., himself) to advise 
with him about it," and about the abrogation of some orders 
formerly made ; who told them (paternally) that when the 
patent was granted the number of freemen " was supposed to 
be so few that they might well join in making laws, but now 
there were so many that it was not possible." Hereafter, in- 
deed, he added, " they might have a select company to 
intend that work, yet for the present they were not furnished 
with a sufficient number of men qualified for such a business ;" 
and concluded with authorizing or granting the representa- 
tion aforementioned. But Israel Stoughton of Dorchester 
was not satisfied with that free rendering, and put forth Jiis 
interpretation of the charter, and so made it necessary that 
he should be suppressed. 

I have quoted instances enough to show how troubled were 
the waters in which the Bay colony's ship of State was 
launched, and the causes by which they were troubled. 
The strife about government was inevitable. Nobody could 
help it. The acid and alkali of the antagonistic principles 
of aristocracy and democracy were thrown together — the 
true quality of each disguised by complication with religion 
— and what came of it was but the natural result. Nor con- 
sidering that the elements opposed were absolutely irrecon- 
cilable did any men ever in the world sustain the test of 
character inherent in such a situation more creditabl}^ to 
themselves and to human nature, than did the men of the 
infant Massachusetts colony in their divided counsels. The 
wonder is, not that they developed so much bitterness in the 
circumstances, but that they developed so little. They 
strove with one another on terms of cordial, unbroken, mu- 
tual respect in the main all round. The aristocrats, as a 



36 25OTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ADOPTION OF 

class, were fnarked by the spirit of brotherliness and mag- 
nanimity. John Winthrop, their leader, was one of the 
noblest souls that ever lived, transparently brave, strong, 
high-minded, gentle, unselfish, caring for nothing but the 
honor of God, and the best good of man as he understood it, 
— a genuinely great man. 

The protracted and involved story of the war of ideas in 
the Bay, so early inaugurated, were quite too long to tell. 
Nor is there any reason why it should be told further now. 
In what of it I have touched, I have desired only to indicate 
the state of things in " the Bay " that met Thomas Hooker 
and his two hundred fellow emigrants when they reached 
there by the ship Griffin, in September, 1633, and took up 
their abode as a body in Newtown. 

"Mr. Hooker's company" — as it was usually called — 
was the most considerable accession in numbers, but espe- 
cially in quality, the colony had received. While Hooker was 
the recognized leader of it, as its bearing his name suggests, 
there were other men included in it who were of mark for 
ability, accomplishments, and character ; as, for example, 
Samuel Stone, Hooker's colleague in the ministry. But pre- 
eminent among them John Haynes, a gentleman of ancient 
family and large estate in Essex, who became Connecticut's 
first governor, and was reelected to that office every alternate 
year as long as he lived, and who is scarcely second to Hooker 
in his title to be named our Founder. The same ship brought 
also the distinguished John Cotton, who came, as Palfrey 
says, "from twenty years in the pulpit of one of the most 
stately parish churches in England to preach the gospel 
within the mud walls and under the thatched roof of the 
meeting-house in a rude New England hamlet," which Boston 
then was. 

No sooner was the new company here than it found itself 
involved in the brew and ferment of the conflict that was 
agitating the colony. John Cotton, who had been inducted 
into his pastoral office immediately on his arrival, and the 
complexion of whose political belief is reflected in his saying. 



CONNECTICUT S FIRST CONSTITUTION. 3/ 

"Democracy I do not conceive that ever God did ordain as a 
fit government either for church or commonwealth," at once 
took sides, vigorously, aggressively, and with the magistrates ; 
preaching at the court of election held May 14, 1634 — the 
court at which he was initiated into the liberties of the 
commonwealth, — a sermon upon the subject of the tenure 
of the magisterial ofifice, just then in dispute, maintaining 
that " A magistrate ought not to be turned into the condi- 
tion of a private man without just cause," /. r., that his ten- 
ure was permanent. To which the freemen forthwith 
responded, when it came to the election, by retiring Gover- 
nor Winthrop to his face, whom, personally, all loved and 
revered, and putting Thomas Dudley in his place. And the 
next year after they repeated the act by retiring Thomas 
Dudley and choosing John Haynes governor, and making 
other changes in the magistracy " partly (says Winthrop) 
because the people would exercise their absolute power " — 
such of it as they had. 

It was to this same court that the Newtown people, eight 
months only after Mr. Hooker came, on the plea of " strait- 
ness for want of room," applied for leave to look out either 
for enlargement or removal ; which application was granted. 
But at the court that met the September following they ap- 
plied further for leave to remove to Connecticut, i. c, for 
leave to go entirely away. Upon tjiis application the vote of 
the court was divided ; the deputies being fifteen to ten for 
granting it ; the magistrates, all but the governor and two 
assistants, for denying it. Of which two assistants it is rea- 
sonable to conjecture Mr. Haynes, who was in that office at 
the time, was one. 

Although the principal motive that we must judge lay 
behind this application is already not doubtfully to be 
guessed, it will be interesting to note the grounds on which 
it was this second time formally based. They were, suc- 
cinctly, three : First, want of room in Massachusetts, as 
before. Second, the fruitfulness and commodiousness of 
Connecticut, and the danger of having it possessed by 



38 25OTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ADOPTION OF 

Others, Dutch or EngHsh. Third, " the strong bent of their 
spirits to remove thither." 

Whatever the weight of the first two reasons in the 
minds of the applicants, whether more or less, — and they 
had some weight, for, as farming and grazing communities 
they zvere crowded ; it was alleged by Mr. Hooker (notes 
Winthrop) as "a fundamental error" that the towns 
were set so near to each other ; and reports of explorers 
had spread information of the eligibility of Connecticut 
for settlement ; and there was apprehension in the colony 
lest the Dutch, or other English than they desired, should 
plant themselves in it, — it can scarcely be mistaken that 
the unexplained " bent of spirit" named for the third 
reason expressed a motive more potent in the case than 
either of the others, or both of them together. No more 
can what were the main inducing causes of that " bent " 
be mistaken. 

The reasons urged against granting the petition are also 
of interest, and even of pathetic interest, it seems to me. As 
supplied by Winthrop's journal, they are, with slight abridg- 
ment, these : Plrst, " That in point of conscience they ought 
not to depart from us, being knit to us in one body, and bound 
by oath to seek the welfare of this commonwealth." Second, 
That "in pq|int of State and civil policy we ought not to give 
them leave to depart, being we were now weak and in danger 
to be assailed; and the departure of Mr. Hooker would not only 
draw many from us, but also divert other friends that would 
come to us," besides "we should expose them to peril both 
from the Dutch and the Indians," and perhaps from 
the King for their unsanctioned occupation of territory. 
Third, " They might be accommodated at home by some 
enlargement which other towns offered." Fourth, "They 
might remove to Merrimac or any other place within our 
patent." Fifth, " The removing of a candlestick is a great 
judgment which is to be avoided." 

These objections surely constituted no mean argument. 
The proposed emigration would be, surely, a sad dismember- 



CONNECTICUT S FIRST CONSTITUTION. 39 

merit of the little commonwealth, whose chief poverty (as 
John Cotton said) was poverty of man. The whole popula- 
tion of the Bay was less than four thousand souls, from 
which such an exodus as was planned, of three towns out of 
eight, would subtract nearly a third ; and if other elements 
of strength than numbers were counted, that proportion did 
by no means represent the loss to be inflicted. It cannot 
be supposed that men like Hooker and Haynes and their as- 
sociates were insensible to the appeal of such considera- 
tions, or did not feel their entire force ; especially when 
brought home to them by the urgencies of private expostula- 
tion and entreaty from those to whom they were intimately 
bound in ties of friendship and a peculiar sympathy in many 
important respects, toward whom they ever entertained sen- 
timents of the highest esteem. And it appears that after 
the answer before stated had been returned by the court 
to their application, under the influence of endeavors put 
forth to provide them room, and of persuasion, and possibly, 
of Mr. Haynes's elevation to the Governorship, which they 
may have construed as importing some promise of the 
abatement or cure of certain ills in the State, they did for a 
season suspend the enterprise of migration. But for a sea- 
son only. The matter had gone too far ; too many were en- 
listed in it, to permit it to be abandoned. Detachments 
from the disaffected tovvns began to make their way to Con- 
necticut, leave or no leave. Meanwhile the political caul- 
dron ceased not to boil in Massachusetts ; the contention 
concerning magistrates, in particular, growing more acute 
than ever. The movement was shortly resumed. Following 
the example of Newtown, the inhabitants of Watertown, at 
the General Court in May, 1635 ; and at its adjourned meet- 
ing, the next month, those of Dorchester ; sought permission 
of removal — whither the record does not specify, though 
doubtless it was to Connecticut — and in each case were 
granted " liberty to remove themselves to any place they 
shall think meet to make choice of, provided they continue 
still under this government." Which certainly was not say- 
ing that they might go to Connecticut. 



40 25OTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ADOPTION OF 

On the subject of i-emoval, Newtown, it is to be observed, 
did not further trouble the court, and that for a reason that 
deserves to be remarked. It will be remembered that the 
vote on her application in September, 1634, for leave to 
remove to Connecticut had been a divided one ; the magis- 
trates by a majority being against it, the deputies, the com- 
mons, by a majority for it. Whereupon the question arose 
whether or no it was granted. The magistrates said it was 
not. But Newtown claimed that it zvas, and held the busi- 
ness concluded, which is significant of her position in 
the war of opinion that was vexing the colony. 

The exodus took place in the year 1636. By the close of 
the summer of that year half the people of Dorchester, the 
larger portion of the people of Watertown, and the strength 
of Newtown, were dwellers in a new Dorchester, Watertown, 
and Newtown on the banks of the Connecticut. 

The same migration also included a company from Rox- 
bury that planted itself at Agaw\im (now Springfield), and 
was a member of the Connecticut colony till, ere the Con- 
stitution was formed, the boundary line was drawn that re- 
stored it to the Bay. 

So then was accomplished, not without displeasure and 
grief, and efforts of obstruction on the part of the officials 
of the mother colony, yet in the event without breach of 
friendship, the desired departure out of her jurisdiction. It 
was by the magistrates of the Bay never consented to. 
The only permission it had was the tacit one implied in a 
certain provision made at request, when it was on the point 
to be off, by the General Court — which there will be occasion 
to speak of by-and-by — ^ for the temporary rule of the sepa- 
rating community and a loan of arms and ammunition for its 
protection. 

That it was such a secession as the facts we have 
glanced at would lead us to think — preponderantly politi- 
cal in its motive — that one immediate end it was designed 
to secure was escape from the jurisdiction of the Bay, is an 
inference more definitely justified still by the ascertained 



Connecticut's first constitution. 41 

views and principles of the man who was its acknowledged 
head. 

Of the attitude assumed by Thomas Hooker on the ques- 
tions of government over which he had found the colony in 
turmoil, nothing has been said. Nor is there much to be 
said. How he sided in his opinions is sufficiently plain. 
He made no concealment of it. But apparently he took no 
very open part — at least no forward part — in the public 
dispute. As far as possible from a timid or a compromising 
man, he was not of a pugnacious temper, and his spirit was 
tolerant. It is one of his recorded sayings that " if men 
would be tender and careful to keep off offensive expres- 
sions, they might keep some distance in opinion without 
hazard to truth or love." Moreover, the chiefs of the domi- 
nant class, i. e., those who stood for the aristocratic theory, 
were men he too much honored, not to make it an extremely 
unacceptable thing to him to antagonize them. Then again, 
as we have seen, shortly after their arrival, in less than a year, 
he and his company had made up their minds to withdraw 
from the colony as soon as might be ; that on the whole, 
there being so convenient and goodly a land as Connecticut 
to withdraw to, it was advisable for the minority to 
do so rather than stay and fight out their differences 
with their friends. Accordingly during the three years he 
remained in Massachusetts he seems to have preserved the 
posture of a pacificator rather than of a partisan. Not that 
he was without weight in the contest going on, for his views 
were well-known, and that they favored the cause of the 
freemen. He was felt to be their ally, and the circumstance 
visibly emboldened their policy. One of the early annalists 
of New England, Hubbard, reports that " after his coming 
it was observed that many of the freemen grew to be very 
jealous of their liberties." 

But in a correspondence of his with Winthrop, from Con- 
necticut, in the fall of 1638, primarily respecting a bound- 
ary question and other business affairs, there occurs a 
luminous and impressive disclosure — all the more impress- 
6 



42 250TII ANNIVERSARY OF THE ADOPTION OF 

ive since it is incidental — of what the political convictions 
and sentiments were which he had entertained at that time ; 
which he brought with him across the seas. The corre- 
spondence exhibits the most essential convictions and senti- 
ments of both men, indeed. Winthrop, who wrote first, has 
affirmed " the unwarrantableness and unsafeness of refer- 
ring matter of council of judicature to the body of the 
people, because the best part is always the least, and of that 
best part the wiser part is always the lesser. The old law 
was : ' Thou shalt bring the matter to the judge.' " 

To which Hooker rejoins, " TJtat in the matter ivJiicJi is re- 
ferred to thejjtdj^e, the sentence slionld be left to his discretion. 
I ever looked at it as a way which leads directly to tyranny, 
and so to confusion; and imist plainly profess, if it was in 
my liberty, I should choose neither to live, nor leave my pos- 
terity, wider sneh a government. Let the jndge do according 
to the sentence of the lazo. Seek the laiv at its month. The 
Jieathen man said, by the light of common sense. ' The laiv is 
not snbject to passion, and therefore onght to have chief rnle 
over rnlers themselves! If s also a truth that counsel should 
be sought from councillors. But the question yet is, who 
those sJiould be. In matters of greater conscqucjice, tvhich 
concern the common good, a general council chosen by all, to 
transact businesses ivhich concent all, I conceive, under favor, 
most suitable to rule, and most safe for relief of the ivhole.'" 

In these so pregnant and weighty words, which deserve 
to be spread in letters of gold on the walls of our Capitol, 
penned in a settler's rude abode in this town of Hartford, is 
contained the first known definite pronunciation of the 
democratic principle of civil rights and civil liberties. They 
marked the farthest advance in that direction which human 
thought had then reached — then or since — its arrival, in 
fact, at a goal, an ultimatum. But here we discern the dif- 
ference in political creed between those two representative 
men — that it is fundamental, absolute, without remedy, not 
to be reconciled. Plainly enough as statesmen, under the 
circumstances, like Lot and Abraham, they had to go apart. 



CONNECTICUT S FIRST CONSTITUTION. 43 

Plainly enough, too, we are in sight of the Connecticut Con- 
stitution, for here is the manifest seed of it, now germinant 
in its native soil. 

It is, indeed, near by. We are back again within a short 
distance of the point in history from which we set out. The 
fixed frame of government that the colony shall adopt is, 
while Thomas Hooker is writing this letter, the theme of 
general talk in the three towns — with what pros and cons 
and diversities of counsel, is left to our imagination. Which 
talk will ripen a few months hence in that illustrious deed 
which we are here gathered gratefully to recall and to praise. 
If its visible antecedents, as I have imperfectly sketched 
them, arc to be reckoned in the account of it, then truly it 
was a deed done not without full appreciation and clear con- 
sciousness, on the part of its doers, of its unparalleled nature 
and its profound meaning. 

It has been a subject of no little inquiry among students 
of our histor}^ who the author — i. c, so far as it maybe said 
to have been the production of an individual — of our first 
Constitution was. The question, it may be assumed, never 
can be answered. Conjecture, based on certain not unrea- 
sonable though scanty supports, has most frequently assigned 
the distinction to Roger Ludlow, of Windsor, reputed to 
have been the foremost lawyer in all the colonies ; a man of 
strong parts, active in affairs, capable of such a work. Had 
assigned it to him it should be said, rather ; for there trans- 
pired recently, or comparatively so, fresh and important 
ground of opinion on the point, to add doubt to that conjec- 
ture, if not to turn the balance against it and substitute 
another in its place as more probable. 

The discovery of the evidence to which I allude fitly fell 
to the fortune, or, more properly, was awarded to the skill of 
the present distinguished president of this society, whose 
large and zealous and conspicuously competent labors in the 
field of our colonial history have been a public service of the 
highest value, and justly entitle him an authority in that 
field second to none. It is to him that we owe the identifi- 



44 25OTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ADOPTION OF 

cation and rescue from the tomb where it lay buried of that 
priceless letter of Thomas Hooker's that has just been 
quoted. (And I may as well interject here, what it would 
be an impropriety in me not to say somewhere, that I am 
under a degree of obligation to him for quite indispensable 
assistance in the preparation of this address — assistance 
most liberally and patiently rendered, — which it were diffi- 
cult to overstate.) 

There fell into Dr. Trumbull's hands a few years since, 
turning up among a miscellany of historic relics that came 
into possession of this society, a small manuscript volume, 
dating back to the time of the settlement of the colony, con- 
taining abstracts of sermons written in cipher, by Henry 
Wolcott, of Windsor. Divining at once the importance of 
what these notes might disclose, Dr. Trumbull applied him- 
self to the task of their unlocking, and with his customary 
success. And for his principal and surely most satisfying 
reward, he had the pleasure of bringing to light a discourse 
of Thomas Hooker's, preached at Hartford on the 31st of 
May, 1638, some time before he wrote the letter to Gover- 
nor Winthrop, eight months before the Constitution was 
adopted, of a character to make it certainly one of the most 
memorable of human utterances, and to fix on him, above 
any person beside, the presumption of, at any rate, an 
immediate concern in shaping the organic law of the new 
State. The text of the discourse was Deuteronomy i. : 13, 
and following verses : " Take you ivise men and under- 
standing, and knoivn among your tribes, and I zvill make 
them riders over you. . . . eaptains over iJiousands, and 
captains over hundreds, over fifties, over tens'' etc. (I re- 
peat it as it is in the notes — the latter part abridged.) 

The notes themselves are so brief, and are a monument 
of such extraordinary interest, and so suitable to be rehearsed 
at this time, that, by your leave, I will give them entire. 

They are under three general divisions : Doctrine : 
Reasons : Uses. (Or, as we should say. Applications.) 

Doctrine — i. That the choice of public magistrates, belongs 
unto the people, by God's own allowance. 



Connecticut's first constitution. 45 

2. The privilege of election, which belongs to the people, 
therefore, must not be exercised according to their humours, but 
according to the blessed will and law of God. 

3. They who have power to appoint officers and magistrates, 
it is in their power, also, to set the bounds and limitations of the 
power and place unto which they call them. 

(This last, obviously enough, with a glance in the direction 
of Massachusetts.) 

j^^^jsons— I. Because the foundation of authority is laid, firstly, 
in the free consent of the people. 

2. Because, by a free choice, the hearts of the people will be 
more inclined to the love of the persons chosen, and more ready 
to yield obedience. 

3. Because of that duty and engagement of the people. 

(/. c. because they will be in the position of a party to a contract.) 

l/ses — The lesson taught is three-fold : 

I St. There is matter of thankful acknowledgment in the appre- 
ciation of God's faithfulness towards us, and the permission of 
these measures that God doth command and vouchsafe. 

2dly. Of reproof — to dash the councils of all those that shall 

oppose it. 

3dly. Of exhortation — to persuade us, as God hath given us 

liberty, to take it. 

And lastly, as God hath spared our lives, and given us them m 
liberty, so to seek the guidance of God, to choose in God and 
for God. 

In so few and such words did young Mr. Wolcott, of 
Windsor, set down the substance of that great manifesto of 
liberty ; how little deeming that his jottings are the solo 
record by which, more than two centuries later, it shall be 
redeemed from oblivion, and laurel with new and imperisha- 
ble honor, the memory of the divine and statesman who gave 

it voice ! 

They present the structural bones simply of the discourse. 
The manner in which, in the hour, or more likely two hours, 
he spoke, the preacher, who had been renowned among the 
pulpit orators in England, the stream of whose fervid elo- 



4-6 25OTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ADOPTION OF 

quence was ever wont to be rich and full, clothed them in 
flesh, is left to fancy. But what life in the bones ! 

That sermon, says Dr. Bacon, " is the earliest known sug- 
gestion of a fundamental law enacted not by royal charter, 
nor by concession from any previously existing govern- 
ment, but by the people themselves — a primary and 
supreme law by which the government is constituted, and 
which not only provides for the free choice of magistrates 
by the people, but also * sets the bounds and limitations of 
the power and place to which ' each magistrate is called." 
And considering the sequence of events, and the complete 
correspondence of the frame of government presently to 
be erected by those who heard him that day — for the 
assembled colony was no doubt his audience — with the 
propositions he maintained ; who, respecting the paternity 
of the instrument by which it was defined, must not justify 
the conclusion of Hooker's latest successor in the gospel 
ministry at this altar (and long may he be the latest) " It 
is impossible not to recognize the master hand. It dimin- 
ishes nothing of the proper honor of Roger Ludlow to say 
that the pastor of the Hartford church was Connecticut's 
great legislator also ; " and the like verdict expressed in 
Historian Johnston's glowing sentence : " It is on the 
banks of the Connecticut, under the mighty preaching of 
Thomas Hooker, and in the Constitution to which it gave 
life, if not form, that we draw the first breath of that atmos- 
phere which is now so familiar to us ;" likewise the order 
in eulogy observed by Historian Bancroft, contemplating 
the same matter, when he says, "They who judge of men 
by their services to the human race will never cease to 
honor the memory of Hooker, and will join with it that of 
Ludlow, and still more that of Haynes." 

A very king among men was this father of our common- 
wealth ; of the true stature of majesty ; great, not only in 
his day, but great in any day ; whom we may linger a while 
to survey. He stood, indeed, not alone, but, pressed as we 
are iox time, it is not feasible now to attempt, even in 



CONNECTICUT S FIRST CONSTITUTION. 47 

fewest words, to call up in review the worthies, his associ- 
ates, whose names are linked with his on that shining page 
of the sublime epic of freedom, which together they in- 
scribed. Yet to himself, their chief, it seems not meet to 
omit some more particular reference, though necessarily cir- 
cumscribed, than thus far we have made. 

He was more than the representative man of the Con- 
necticut colony. It is not too much to say that the genius of 
New England was incarnate in his person. His royal 
degree was early recognized. When he died, in 1647, John 
Winthrop, with whom he had so differed in counsel, said of 
him: "The fruits of his labors in both P^nglands shall pre- 
serve an honorable and happy remembrance of him forever." 
Cotton Mather, of Boston, writing a half century later, 
introduces a memoir of him in his Magnalia with saying 
that as the foreign resident who met his countryman in 
Athens, and promising to show him at once all the wonders 
of Greece, showed him Solon "as the person in whom cen- 
tered all the glories of that city or country," so he now in- 
vited his reader " to behold at once the wonders of New Eng- 
land, and it is in one Thomas Hooker that he shall behold 
them." 

No authentic portraiture of his person of any sort has 
come down to us, but if we may credit tradition, he was a 
man physically of a singular beauty of countenance, mas- 
siveness of mold, and mingled stateliness and grace of aspect. 
Educated at Cambridge University, the hearthstone of Puri- 
tanism, and for ten years or more after his graduation resident 
there as Fellow, he emerged thence about 1620, in the prime 
of manhood, full furnished with all liberal learning, and 
entered on his career as a clergyman of the church of 
England ; of the Puritan Non-conformist school — though he 
was never a Separatist. It was not long before he displayed 
a pulpit power that was phenomenal ; that drew vast crowds 
to hear him ; and that so contributed to the ferment of the times 
as to provoke Archbishop Laud to resolve on silencing him. 

The position he had attained in the public eye and regard, 
and the greatness of his influence, are reflected in letters of 



48 250Tn ANNIVERSARY OF THE ADOPTION OF 

information and advice concerning him addressed to Laud 
by one of his lieutenants residing in his neighborliood, in 
which he reports : " There be divers young ministers about 
us that spend their time in conference with Mr. Hooker, 
and return home to preach what he hatli brewed. He is 
their oracle and their principal library. ... I have 
lived in Essex to see many changes, and have seen the 
people idolizing many new ministers and lecturers, but this 
man surpasses them all for learning and some other consid- 
erable parts, and gains more and far greater followers than 
all before him." Again he counsels the archbishop that it 
would be prudence, if possible, to induce Mr. Hooker 
quietly to remove, and not suspend him from the exercise 
of his ministry, since, in the latter case, " his genius (he 
says) will still haunt all the pulpits in the country where 
any of his scholars may be admitted to preach." When, 
nevertheless. Laud set the law in motion against him, he 
wrote — this same Vicar of Braintree — " I pray God direct 
my Lord of London in this weighty business. All men's 
heads, tongues, eyes, and ears are in London, and all the 
counties about London, taken up with talking, plotting, 
and expecting what will be the conclusion of Mr. Hooker's 
business." 

The prevailing repute of character in which he then stood 
is sufficiently testified by the fact, that upon Laud's 
proceedings being known, forty-three of the beneficed 
clergy of the church, all Conformists, united in a petition in 
Hooker's behalf, entreating the archbishop to suffer him to 
continue in his liberty, and in his ministry, as being to their 
knowledge, "for doctrine, orthodox, and life and conversa- 
tion, honest, and for his disposition, peaceable, no ways tur- 
bulent or factious." But it availed nothing, and Hooker 
shortly, in 1630, fled away to Holland, where he remained 
for three years, ministering to his fellow exiles there, till he 
secretly returned to England to embark for Massachusetts. 

To that sojourn in Holland, where he saw republican lib- 
erty, we must suppose Connecticut is in no small measure 



CONNECTICUT'S FIRST CONSTITUTION. 49 

indebted for her free birth. But also, and perhaps more 
still, to his intimate relations there with Dr. William Ames, 
a stron^^ and deep thinker on the problem of government 
one of Uie little-noted men who yet are fruitful sources of 
events, and who, in the judgment of some whose opinion is 
entitled to weight, was, politically speaking, the cause of 

Thomas Hooker. 

A most lovable and loving soul, clothed with gentleness 
and patience, shedding around him always the sweet atmos- 
phere of Christian piety, was this Father and Founder of 
our State. Yet withal of a high spirit, a marvelous energy 
of mind, and strength of will. One who knew him well said 
of him "That he had the best command of his own spirit 
which he ever saw in any man whatever. For thoughhe were 
a man of choleric disposition, and had a mighty vigor and 
fervor of spirit, which as occasion served, was wondrous use- 
ful unto him, yet he had ordinarily as much government of 
his choler as a man has of a mastiff dog in a chain -Jic could 
let out his dog and full in his dog as he pleased And 
another that, as Mather tells us, had observed " his heroical 
spirit and courage," gave this account of him : " He was a 
person who, while doing his Master's work, would put a 

King in his pocket." 

The portrait might be extended to other details ; but m 
these few lineaments, supplied by the witness of his 
cotemporaries, we mark the undoubted features and propor- 
tions of a prince, and discern the reason of the hguie 
applied to him in his own day. that he was "the one rich 
pearl with which Europe more than repaid America for all 
the treasures from her coast." 

In the old burying-ground behind me, under the shadow 
of the walls of this sanctuary, his dust mingled with that of 
others of his faithful generation, sleeps Thomas Hooker, one 
of God's glorious servants, one ,of the finest heroes o 
humanity, to whom the world is under obligation perpetua 
and altogether immeasureable. The monument to him of 
bronze or marble which Connecticut owes it to herself to set 



7 



50 25OTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ADOPTION OF 

up, and which she will assuredly set up, is lacking. Kut 
wherever in the earth citizenship is free, and men dwell in 
their communities in loyalty to, and under protection of, the 
laws themselves have made, there is his monument. 

Though I am apprehensive of having already exceeded my 
appropriate limit of time, there are yet behind certain things 
so essential to any complete circuit of my theme, even on 
the strictest construction of its bounds, that I must crave 
your indulgence while I briefly note them. 

Especially one thing. We have been speaking of the 
adoption of her first Constitution as marking Connecticut's 
natal day. But the statement that it did so, were it meant 
by it that it marked the date of the birth of scIf-govcriiDicnt 
in Connecticut, would have to be amended. You will recall 
that mention was made some way back of a provision by the 
Massachusetts General Court, on the eve of the emigra- 
tion, at the instance of those departing, for the observance 
of some "present government " among them. It consisted 
of the appointment of a commission composed of two from 
each town, empowered to arbitrate in matters of general 
concern, till such time as the new plantation should super- 
sede their function by agreeing on some " manner of gov- 
ernment " for itself — but in no case was the commission to 
be of authority for more than one year. Whether or not it 
fulfilled that term of office is uncertain. If not by super- 
seding it, at any rate in conjunction with it, the colonists, 
soon after their arrival, assumed control of their own affairs. 
What order they took in so doing — how they went about 
the business — the scanty record leaves us uninformed. 
But they did it. " By some process [as Dr. Bacon says] 
the government passed into the hands of the people." In 
January the new names of the towns were decreed, and 
their boundaries fixed. A court was held, at which elected 
magistrates were sworn, and public business transacted by 
them, and a body of committees from the towns, three 
from each; in which binal assembly was evolved "the 
seminal principle" of the two houses of our Legisla- 



CONNECTICUT S FIRST CONSTITUTION. 5 1 

ture. Eigift such courts met prior to May i, 1637. At the 
court of that date, which was the ninth, and which is the 
first called the "General" Court in the record, a draft of 
troops was ordered, a tax levied, and a commander appointed 
for the Pequot war. 

From which it appears that Connecticut was a State, con- 
scious of its existence and of its powers, at least two years 
before the Constitution. Whatever changes and modifica- 
tions in the system of conducting the institution of self rule 
the people, taught by experience, made, when finally they 
sat down to write it out, nothing is more sure than that the 
framing of the Constitution was substantially but a put- 
ting into law v;hat was already inaugurated in practice ; 
and that Mr. Hooker's sermon but the proclamation and 
defense of principles that had been from the beginning 
operative in the conduct of the colony affairs. 

It was not the Constitution that made the State ; but the 
State that made the Constitution. The State itself was 
born, not made ; born, viz., of the people of the three towns ; 
being produced of them under God, by their untrammeled 
action in the liberty of the wilderness, in obdience to what 
an eminent publicist of our day has termed "the natural law 
of accretion." That same writer has pointed out as a cir- 
cumstance additional to those that have been named by 
which the genesis of Connecticut is distinguished from that 
of all other States, that it was achieved in absence, at once of 
territorial title (though there was a fiction of one), and of a 
defined geography. It was to be yet fifteen years before it 
knew its boundaries. It came into being on ground the 
ownership of which was at any rate problematical ; practi- 
cally a No-Man's land. 

It was the Town as an organized community of people, 
"the only association," as De Tocqueville says, "which 
is so perfectly natural that it seems to constitute itself," 
that, as another has said, "is the primordial cell of the body 
politic " in the Anglo-Saxon line of civilization ; in the mu- 
nicipal independence of which the sovereignty of the people 



52 25OTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ADOPTION OF 

becomes originally operative ; from which, again Dc Toc- 
queville observes, " the impulsion of political activity " 
springs ; it was the three towns of our colony, which were 
three as three men are three, that under unique conditions 
of freedom generated the life of our commonwealth, and 
struck it into existence. Which is to be forever remembered. 

I should travel beyond the province of my theme, and 
quite beyond the province of my competency, if I ventured 
an opinion touching the system of legislative representation 
that is best to conserve justice and the public welfare in 
Connecticut in these changed times ; or that will be here- 
after. But no one will dispute me when I say that so long 
as the Three Vines remain upon her seal, if any State of 
the Union has reason to magnify the claims of the town and 
to be jealous of aught that will subtract from its conse- 
quence as a factor in the body politic, it is the State of 
Connecticut. 

The history — the great history — of our first Constitution 
since its adoption, upon which I had designed and hoped 
somewhat to dwell, I am forced reluctantly to pass and 
hasten to an end. 

Some months hence, during this present year, is to occur 
the celebration of the centenary of our National Constitu- 
tion. It is altogether fitting that this of ours shall have pre- 
ceded it ; for that Constitution was most distinctly and 
definitely of the extraction and lineage of the one our fathers 
made so long before. 

In the review of the stormy scenes of the convention 
which framed the system of our Federal Government, so 
marked by the clash and struggle of opposing schemes, to 
which that larger occasion will lead, it will transpire — we 
may trust perspicuously, as it will deserve to — that at a 
point of crisis when the two contending parties stood at a 
deadlock, with no prospect of release from it, and the conven- 
tion was doubting if it must not go home witliout a result, 
Roger Sherman, Oliver Ellsworth, and William Samuel 
Johnson, delegates from Connecticut, stood forth, and by 
proposing, and in the event procuring, the acceptance of 



CONNECTICUT S FIRST CONSTITUTION. 53 

what is called "The Connecticut Compromise," caused the 
knot of difficulty to be loosed. And it will transpire 
further, that that action thus brought about, amounted, in 
effect, to the "grafting [to use Prof. Johnston's expression] 
of the Connecticut system on the stock of the old confeder- 
ation;" that by it "her combination of commonwealth and 
town rights" was reproduced "in a similar combination of 
national and State rights " in the fundamental structure of 
the new government. And this, he declares, "is the 
crowning glory of the system which Hooker inaugurated in 
the wilderness, and of the commonwealth of Connecticut." 

And what qualified Sherman, Ellsworth, and Johnson 
thus to take the saving part of mediators at a juncture so 
momentous, was the fact that they were Connecticut men — 
were of a race bred up on this soil under that system ; 
wonted to it ; acquainted with its workings. We of Con- 
necticut are entitled to expect as the fruit of the public 
re-perusal of that passage of our country's annals, a bright- 
ening in the eyes of the whole nation, of the honors of our 
little State, and of its founders. 

A mighty voice it was, that of Thomas Hooker, crying in 
the wilderness in the days of things, to look at, how small ! 
foreordained in the blossoming to be revealed, how great ! 
How far it has been heard ! How living are its echoes 
still ! An undying voice in this world ! Abraham Lincoln's 
immortal speech on the battlefield of Gettysburg is but one 
of its reverberations. Thank God, for all the preparing of 
the ways and straightening of the paths before the feet of 
advancing humanity, of which, under His divine providence, 
hitherto, and, we must believe in histories yet to unfold, it 
was prophetic. 

Yes, thank God. QUI TRANSTULIT SUSTINET. 
That QUI, as our fathers meant it, was their motto's 
regnant word. And it becomes their children in all gene- 
rations to maintain it so ; and by the vast ever broadening , 
and benignant harvest of the seed they sowed in weakness, 
as from age to age it grows before their eyes, to worship 
their fathers' God. 



54 25OTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ADOPTION OF 

The morning exercises were conckuled by 

DOXOLOGY. 
Benediction by 

Rev. FRANCIS GOODWIN. 



CONNECTICUT S FIRST CONSTITUTION. 55 



EVENING EXERCISES 



(2J\eac|enr|Lj o^ Muj^ic, 



Hon. J. Hammond Trumbull, President of the Con- 
necticut Historical Society, came to the front of the stage, 
and said that he was gratified to see so many ladies and gentle- 
men present on such a rainy evening, and that it gave him 
pleasure to appoint as chairman of the evening, a townsman 
who needed no introduction to a Hartford audience, Hon. 
Henry C. Rouinson. 



ADDRESS. 

BY H. C. ROBINSON. 

Ladies and Gentlemen: 

Were the United States France, and were the city of 
Hartford the city of Paris, our sky to-night would glow with 
fireworks, our streets would blossom with wreathed columns 
and arches, omr parks would be picturesque with uniformed 
soldiers, and the air would be filled with the echoes of can- 
non and bells, and the shouts of wild enthusiasm ! But ours 
and theirs are different ancestors. Our joy is not hero-wor- 
ship. We are not looking back across a quarter of a millen- 
nium to the flash of a sword. There are events in human 
history which are too sacred to be honored, or get honor at 
all, from the mere flash of bayonets or the rattle of drums. 
Far be it from me to say one word against enthusiasm or 
demonstrations of it. Symbolism is a necessity, and it is a 
good necessity. We would not hinder the peal of the bell, 
nor throttle the noise of a single cannon. But they who 
met 250 years ago to prepare a written constitution, which 
should control the first free representative democracy of his- 
tory, did a thing which invokes in us a sense of the sacra- 
mental ; and there is a hush within us of all babble ; and 
we ask only for the supreme eloquence of love and worship, 
which seeks not even the aid of words and phrases, and stdl 
less the glamour of ornament and parade. Yesterday we 
took these things as matters of course, these blend pres- 
ences and absences. To-day we go to a cradle, and lo ! it is 
a manger ; but there is a birth there from God. Yesterday, 
I say, we took these things as a matter of course. Things 
of blessing, think of them : Self-government ; a written 
constitution ; justice open to the humblest citizen; educa- 
8 



58 25OTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ADOPTION OF 

tion free to all ; industry honored ; humility exalted ; relig- 
ion supreme. And think of the absences — of sword ; of 
faggot ; the inquisition ; the star-chamber ; exile ; tyranny 
in despot, in church or state — all gone. And yet, my 
friends, we were born into all these good things — born into 
them as we were born into the sunlight and the clear, pure 
air. We have made no struggle for them, we have made 
little struggle to retain them — we were born into them. 
But they, the founders, were not. When one has tempo- 
rarily lost sight by some curtain that has dropped upon his 
eyes for weeks or months by the spell of disease, he first 
learns what it is to be blind. When a political exile has 
worked out a year of life in the frosts of Siberia, he learns 
to know what liberty is. 

1 am not here to-night to tell the story of that day ; it has 
been told in a masterly way this afternoon by our orator. I 
shall not attempt to repeat it. But we come for a few con- 
gratulations, as we look back to that early hour here again 
to-night, in the few minutes that we spend together, and, as 
we look back there, we see, first of all, that the fathers 
organized a pure democracy. Plato and Aristotle — I will 
not say the great men of their day, but great men of all 
days, abhorred democracy. The democracy that they saw 
and hated was the rule of the mob — a mob that banished 
Aristides. The republic of Rome, when it came into liber- 
ties and elected Tribunes, was again the rule of the mob ; 
and the Tribunes gave way for the Caesars. The republic 
of France, in the eighteenth century, was still again the rule 
of a mob. And the Italian Bonaparte built his empire on 
its ruins. Ours was a pure democracy, but it shunned the 
evils of Greece and Rome, and took its form from the coun- 
try from whence it sprung. 

It was more than that — it was a representative democ- 
racy. Here again the fathers went away from the evils of 
the older States, and took a step in the line of English 
thought and English liberty. 

But, still more than either, it was a democracy under a writ- 



CONNECTICUT S FIRST CONSTITUTION, 59 

ten law — a written organic constitution. Democracy, no 
less than monarchy, needs the limitations of a written 
constitution. The occasional will of the majority, born of 
passion, or of the influence of a demagogue, or, perhaps, of 
a man in uniform, may beat down the most sacred things in 
the family, in property, or in freedom of thought, unless re- 
strained by the good letter of organic law. There have 
been democracies that had no written constitution. The re- 
public of France, of which I spoke a few minutes ago, was a 
pure democracy, and it wrote beautiful legends, liberty, 
equality, and fraternity, but it was restrained by no organic 
law. And what was the result .'' The revenges stored in 
the hearts of the people of France, treasured up for centu- 
ries, against the tyrannies of bourbonism, ran riot in streams 
of volcanic wrath, and the wayfarer, as he walked through 
the streets of Paris, stained his boot with blood. 

Once more, this written constitution of which I speak wa.s. 
made by the people. It was in no sense either a grant or a 
concession by any municipality. Much has been said to- 
day, much has been said in other days, in honor of our Con- 
necticut town system. Too much can never be said. As a 
civilizing agency, developing the individual and the individ- 
ual community, it cannot be too highly praised, and chiefly, 
because it has impressed upon civil government the supreme 
importance of home rule in local affairs ; and, in so doing, it 
has exercised a great restraining power in keeping down to 
a minimum the tutelage of the general government, even 
when that general government was of the people. But, my 
friends, this sacred ordinance, which we honor to-day, moved 
not from the towns, but from the people. There was no 
notion in the minds of any of the fathers, nor could there 
have been, that such a thing as sovereignty existed in mu- 
nicipalities. They had seen, no such plantation or town. 
The town of which they knew owed allegiance to the 
crown and a faint allegiance to Parliament. These towns 
of the Connecticut Valley, discarding all sovereignty of 
the crown, and all sovereignty of Parliament, recognized 



60 250x11 ANNIVERSARY OF THE ADOPTION OF 

the sovereignty of the people ; and, while I would defer to 
no man in my honor of the town, it seems to me a super- 
ficial study of history and political philosophy, which insists 
that the towns granted or withheld anything from the peo- 
ple in the original constitution of Connecticut. The towns 
reserved no sovereignty, they had none to reserve. And 
from 1639 until the present time, under the original funda- 
mental orders, under the charter, and under the constitution 
of 1 81 8, the towns have had no power, except as it was given 
them by the organic law or by the general court represent- 
ing the whole people. That general court, with great wis- 
dom, has always left to the town its internal arrangements, 
its family affairs, so to say, so has our legislation honored 
the good maxim, that that government is best which governs 
least. 

I have spoken of ours as a pure democracy. These 
founders came out from the noble old colony of Massachu- 
setts ; but what did they leave behind them ? By no 
means, and by no manner of means, an advance in human 
thought equal to what they brought with them. There they 
left an attachment to monarchy ; there they left an attach- 
ment to aristocracy ; there they left the theory that the 
only persons fit to participate in public affairs were they 
who had a certain ecclesiastical standing. Our fathers 
brought no such thoughts here. In this organic instrument 
there is no allusion by name or title to any monarchy, or to 
an aristocracy, and no church membership was imposed 
upon citizenship in Connecticut. Their servility yielded to 
allegiance, loyalty to a personal monarch became devotion 
to pure law. 

I have spoken of this one as the first written constitution 
of a pure representative democracy. It is true. But he 
would be an ungrateful and unworthy son of New England, 
who, in eulogizing the fathers, forgot to withhold that im- 
mense measure of gratitude which every citizen of New 
England and every friend of freedom everywhere has to-day, 
or ought to have, when he remembers the immense indebt- 



CONNECTICUT S FIRST CONSTITUTION. 6 I 

edness of human liberty to the English common law. The 
great charter, executed on that little island in the Thames, 
and the " Law of the land," antedating the charter by centu- 
ries, and which was the birthright of Englishmen, were sure 
prophecies of the Connecticut constitution of 1639, '^"^1 the 
federal constitution of 1787. It is not strange, but it is 
memorable, that the genius of our government has called 
from the old world three monumental pieces of literature : 
One, the famous history of democracy, by the illustrious 
Frenchman, DeTocqueville, written more than fifty years 
ago ; another, the scholarly analysis of our constitutional 
government by the German, Dr. Von Hoist ; and, last of all, 
the most fascinating analysis of our country and all that is 
ours in a strange and beautiful philosophy by Prof. Bryce 
of Scotland. 

And, speaking of Scotland, as I came in here to-night I 
could but remember that some of us were prevented by this 
greater occasion from going to another occasion of festivity 
in our immediate neighborhood conducted by our friends of 
Scottish birth and ancestry. They meet to-night in an adjoin- 
ing hall to commemorate the anniversary of their great poet ; 
and as I thought of him and this occasion, and remembered 
the things he had written in matchless verse, it seemed to 
me that, after all, his greatness is greatest in that he was 
the poet of the people. He was the man who dared to look 
and see, and sing for the rights of man in sweetest strain. 
He looked through the "rank," which is but a token, the 
"guinea stamp," to the pure gold itself, which is "the man." 
And so let our Scotch people go on with their eloquence, 
and dance in memory of Bobbie Burns, and they are cel- 
ebrating with us the cause of civil liberty and human 
freedom. 

If we look back 250 years to that time when the fathers 
met together, it seems a simple scene. They were simple 
souls. They were unconscious of their own greatness. 
They were poor ; they were hungry ; they were surrounded 
by all kinds of hostilities of nature ; and, least of all, had 



62 25OTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ADOPTION OF 

they any kind of conception of the grandeur of their own 
creation, whose genial blessings have radiated, like the 
beams of the sun, to every zone. If we look back at that 
scene of 250 years ago, and then look at our nation as it is 
to-day, with its inconceivably great resources, its wealth, its 
power for all that is good and true and beautiful in human 
life, its leadership in political thought, we can only say of it 
that it is the one supreme, inexplicable, glorious miracle in 
human history. That picture I shall leave to be described 
by the eloquent lips for which we all are waiting. 

Mr. Robinson : 

Historians and scholars differ about the question, whether the 
chief credit for the original constitution is to be given to Thomas 
Hooker or to Roger Ludlow. Roger Ludlow's name appears 
first in all the gatherings of the judges before the constitution, 
and many scholars attribute to him the inspiration of that docu- 
ment, and most scholars credit him with its language. More 
recent scholarship has credited its inspirations chiefly to the 
divine. We are fortunate in having one with us to-night who car- 
ries the blood of old Thomas Hooker in his veins and who is 
also a distinguished honor to the profession, which Mr. Ludlow 
honored, and I take pleasure in introducing John Hooker, Esq., 
of Hartford. 



Connecticut's first constitution. 63 



ADDRESS. 

BY JOHN HOOKER. 

Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen : 

The planting of a State is always a subject of interest. 
Its history is generally one of adventure and heroism, and 
we read it as we would a romance. This is generally so 
where mere temporal advantage was the ruling motive, but 
the subject becomes one of profound interest where there 
predominated a great moral purpose. Such a purpose en- 
tered into the planting of our State, and of all New England, 
even though they did not dream they were sowing the seeds 
of empire, and we do well to honor these noble founders. 
They were wise men in their day, and laid foundations deep 
and strong, and we may study the history of the time for the 
mere wisdom that it teaches. But we miss its great lesson 
if we do not study, and understand, and become inspired by, 
the spirit of those grand men. They came here in the fear 
of God, and holdhig their first allegiance due to him. And 
though they had a perpetual struggle for existence, against 
savages, against most rigorous winters, against the most 
scanty supplies of the necessaries of life, they found time and 
heart to look to the future, and felt their responsibility for 
the character of that future. The church, he school, the 
college, a wise system of government — all that could affect 
the moral welfare of their descendants — these were the 
things that they thought of and labored for. They had 
sometimes their petty ambitions, their jealousies and rival- 
ries, for they were but human ; but there was a great pervad- 
ing enthusiasm to establish an intelligent and God-fearing 
people. All honor, therefore, to those brave, good men. 



64 25OTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ADOPTION OF 

But wc ought not to forget that we are all, in a sense, if 
not founders, yet builders. We, as they, build for the next 
generation, and the next, and the great lesson we are to 
learn from them is, that we are to build, as they did, loith a 
great moral purpose. No man can live for himself alone; 
but we may make our lives morally worthless if we live in 
the mere present, seeking our own personal success in life, 
and not striving to make the world better for our having 
lived in it. There are noble men and women living to-day, 
grand souls, who by their toil and self-sacrifice have helped 
to set the world forward. But how manifest is it that the 
vast majority of men, even in this Christian land, and men 
of intelligence and social position, are living but little above 
a material plane ; certainly with no thought of any allegiance 
owed to God, or of any duty to make warfare upon the 
powers of evil. 

Let us then be builders with a high moral purpose. All 
this is easy exhortation ; almost common-place. But I beg 
you, in the few minutes allowed me, to follow me through a 
certain philosophy that attends the matter of building up a 
truly Christian society. 

I. And, in the first place, the work of up-building is a 
work of Reform. The true bulkier is a reformer. The re- 
form of a hundred years ago, reaching then the high-water 
mark of the progressive thought of the time, becomes the 
conservatism of to-day, and the reformer of to-day must 
build higher. The true reformer is not necessarily an icon- 
oclast. Sometimes he has to be. Thus the reformer Heze- 
kiah "brake in pieces the brazen serpent that Moses had 
made, for the children of Israel did burn incense to it ; and 
he called it Nehushtan," — that is — only a piece of brass. 
It once represented a vital truth, but the life had all g^nc 
out of it, and the Jews had made a mere fetish of it. But 
in the composition of a genuine reformer there is ordinarily 
no quality of destructiveness. He is in the truest sense a 
builder. So far as he would destroy some entrenched wrong, 
it is merely the overthrow of that which is itself a usurpa- 



Connecticut's first constitution. 65 

tion, and the re-cstablisliment of that which is a dethroned 
right, or which rests upon clear, but disregarded, principles 
of right. This is illustrated in the overthrow of slavery in 
this country. The spirit which assailed it was not one of 
destructiveness, but a spirit of up-building, of lifting de- 
throned manhood to its rightful place. The ordinary idea 
of a reformer is of a pugnacious man, who carries around a 
moral shillalah ; whereas, in fact, he is generally a member 
of a peace society ; or of a morose and gloomy man ; whereas, 
he may be, and sometimes is, overflowing with wit and 
humor, and the best sort of company. All that specially 
marks him is a burning enthusiasm for humanity. I know 
no truer women, in all that goes to make true womanhood, 
than those who, as the Women's Christian Temperance 
Union, are carrying on a war against the saloons. 

2. The true reformer, in the second place, is never satis- 
fied with mere expedients and make-shifts. These have 
their place, and it is often absolutely necessary to resort to 
them. But when the immediate exigency is passed the true 
reformer goes to work to remove the cause. He considers 
not merely conditions, but theories. He studies and seeks 
to apply fundamental principles. Compromises are often 
not only expedient but just. They enter largely into the 
framework of society. But a compromise with some vice, 
no matter how entrenched, merely postpones an inevi- 
table struggle with it. Unsettled questions of right, it has 
been said, have no mercy for the peace of nations. Com- 
promises with slavery only postponed, and in the end made 
mo're terrible, the final death struggle of freedom with it. 
When the anarchists were hung in Chicago, their execution 
was an expedient. No wrong, fancied or real, could justify 
their dynamite war on society, and there was no way but to 
deal with them with a strong hand. But the danger to 
society from the anarchy of the hovel is not so great as that 
from the anarchy of the palace. There will always be a 
determination to suppress disorder. Life, property, all 
prosperity, rest for their security on social order, and the 
9 



^ 25OTH ANXIVERSARY OF THE ADOPTION OF 

nation would rise by a common impulse to put down any or- 
ganized attack upon it. But the most dangerous anarchy — 
and the more dangerous because it does not come in conflict 
with the spirit of order — is that of the men, who, by com- 
bination and by the power of money, control our legislation, 
or pervert it where they cannot wholly control it, or where 
they can do neither, lubricate, by the use of their money, 
some hole of escape. They do not terrorize society ; it is 
no part of their object to terrorize anybody ; but the 
thoughtful lover of his country, and of equality and justice, 
looks on with the gravest apprehension. When the true 
builder of society has discharged his painful duty toward the 
men of violence and blood, he addresses himself to his higher 
and more serious duty to this more dangerous class, and sees 
that a correction of what is wrong here will largely remove 
the cause of the plebeian anarchy. 

3. The true reformer, in the third place, builds upon the 
foundation of old ideas, but the superstructure is of new 
ideas, or of ideas that have been overlooked or lost, and are 
practically new to the age. The case is not unlike that of 
our wonderful inventions and material improvements of all 
sorts. These are generally but new uses of natural forces 
that have existed from the foundation of the world. And up- 
on our discoveries and inventions a later age will build a 
like superstructure of its own. This is true evolution. So 
it is with moral and religious ideas. The old Roman who, 
as a magistrate, could coolly condemn his son to death, 
could never have got from the declarations of Scripture 
as to God's fatherly love, the same conception of it that 
a father to-day gets. The new conception as compared 
with the old, is practically a new truth. Yet the ideas of 
both would have the same foundation. So I say we 
build in our day with ideas that are practically new in our 
day, though all resting on old foundations. Take the relig- 
ious dogmas of two centuries ago ; where are many of them 
to-day .'' and even some of those most tenaciously held .-* yet 
all were built, according to the intelligence of the age, on 
that everlasting foundation, the Gospel of Christ. 



Connecticut's first constitution. 6j 

Our Lord told us that the Spirit of Truth would come 
(involving the idea of a new arrival), and would guide us 
into all truth. This involves the idea of progression in 
the guide and in the follower ; and progress too in truth 
itself. Paul told us to " serve in the neivness of the spirit, 
and not in the oldness of tJie letter^ The spirit is ever new 
and ever progressive, and leaves the letter far behind. I 
was once in Geneva on the fourth of July, and in that home 
of Calvin gave as a toast — " John Calvin as he would be 
if he were here to-day." That grand, brave, sturdy old man, 
if here to-day, would, I verily believe, hardly pass an accept- 
able examination in Calvinism. The world of religious 
thought moves, though it still revolves and will ever revolve, 
around the great central source of all light. 

4. There is a great duty on the part of sober and intelli- 
gent men, not to stand aloof from, but to fraternize with, 
and guide, that less intelligent, and often too impatient and 
so too hasty and impetuous spirit of reform which almost 
always shows itself in connection with true reforms. It 
is extravagant and often fanatical, but is well-intentioned and 
needs to be guided and not discouraged or suppressed. The 
world would never move if there were not some men so 
zealous as to go too far. What a force there is, if rightly 
directed and controlled, in the Salvation Army. Benjamin 
Du Flan — the "Gentleman of Alias," as he was called, 
who lived in the south of France a hundred and fifty years 
ago, was a noble specimen of a true reformer in the highest 
social position joining with extravagant zealots, because 
he knew they were on the Lord's side. The Hartford 
Coiirant, in an editorial notice of his life, recently published, 
says : " To be a Protestant was to be an outcast in every 
way. It was this lot that young Du Plan chose for his 
worldly portion. The reader will not be surprised to learn 
that there was Protestant fanaticism as well as Catholic 
bigotry, and that there were abnormal developments of 
religious zeal. Many women and girls took up the character 
of prophetesses and preachers, fell down in ccstacies, and 



68 25OTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ADOPTION OF 

went through all the scandals of fantastic demeanor and 
imposture. Du Plan was deterred from his choice neither 
by the extravagance of some of the sect, nor by the perse- 
cutions. // is largely owing to l/is labors that the French 
Protestant church is alive to-day ^ 

5. And this brings me, in the fifth place, to a point 
which I conceive it to be very important to have fully under- 
stood. It is that new ideas, especially on moral and religious 
subjects, which are finally accepted as God's own truth, 
find at the outset their most determined antagonists in 
the church and among really good men. I am not speaking 
against good men as such ; to nobody are they dearer than 
to me. I am not speaking against the church ; few 
love the church more. But I am speaking of a fact, and 
speaking from the study of history and the observations of 
a long life. The fact seems on its face almost incomprehen- 
sible, yet is easily explained. 

In the first place, almost every advance is in the direction 
of larger liberty — liberty of thought, liberty of action, of 
less responsibility to mere law and more to one's own soul, 
the grandest of responsibilities. Now liberty is near neigh- 
bor to license, and every man of loose morals takes the side 
of liberty against restraint. And not merely the bad men, 
but all the men of courageous thinking who have already 
antagonized prevailing beliefs. Take the universal belief of 
a hundred years ago that the world was made in six days, by 
six successive fiats of God, and that the Scripture so taught. 
Thirty years after science had clearly established the fact 
that the world was thousands of years in being made, there 
were probably twenty outside of the churches who accepted 
this as the truth where there was one in the churches. 
And the former were regarded as little better than infidels. 
But God's truth was with the infidels, and the error was 
with his people. Again, take the question of future proba- 
tion. (I do not propose to touch the merits of the question.) 
Almost every bad man favors the idea. He sees in it deliv- 
erance for himself. He sees in it license. Yet the man 



Connecticut's first constitution. ' 69 

who desires only to know what is God's truth on the subject, 
is allowing himself to be led astray if he lets himself be 
influenced by the consideration that all bad men accept the 
new idea, and the great majority of good men reject it. 
Early in this century Sir Samuel Romilly, one of the noblest 
men England has ever known, then a member of Parliament, 
set out to reform the criminal law of England by abolishing 
the death penalty for petty offences. A body of acts which, 
voted down overwhelmingly at first, he by great effort 
and long persistence finally got passed, is known as the 
"Romilly Acts," and England is to-day proud of them, and 
not one vote in ten thousand could be got for going back to 
the old law. Yet when he began all society was against him 
— and the church with the rest. There was a universal 
belief that any letting up of penalty would only increase 
crime. And who were with him ? Some good men were 
early gained over ; but every thief, every robber, every vile 
man and woman, was on his side. Yet God was on the 
same side with the thieves, and not with his people. 

There is another reason why the church and good men 
are thrown into antagonism to nascent truth. The church 
rests on old ideas. Its people have been brought up on them. 
They think them everlasting truths, and that they embrace 
all truth. They can not realize that the kingship never 
dies, though the sceptre may pass to new hands. 

A worn-out dogma died. Around its bed 
Its votaries wept as if all truth were dead. 
But heaven-born truth is an immortal thing. 
Hark, how its lieges give it welcoming — 
" The King is Dead — Long live the King." 

So the moment a new idea is brought before these good 
people which seems to conflict with what they have been 
taught, they bristle against it. Without ever examining the 
question they take a position of antagonism to it. There is 
often much to respect in this spontaneous rallying to the 
defense of old truths to which they feel that they owe an 



yO 25OTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ADOPTION OF 

unhesitating and unquestioning allegiance. I have more 
respect for a bigot than for a mere surface indifferentist. 
And then these same defenders of the church look out upon 
the supporters of the new idea and see a motley group of all 
sorts — broad religionists, cavillers, agnostics, and, beyond 
these, all sorts of bad men, and they think that nothing can 
be clearer than that they are on the Lord's side. Yet, in 
most cases, a half-century later the church will have accepted 
the new idea as God's truth. 

Let it be understood then, that, as an almost universal 
rule, new truths come with a great discredit. It is right 
that there should be a strong presumption against them, and 
to require that they be supported by a large preponderance 
of proof. But it is more than this. They encounter a 
strong, unreasoning, often bitter, prejudice ; a prejudice 
that I think is hateful to God ; for I believe that God loves 
above all others the man who loves truth, and is willing to 
suffer, and, if need be, to die for it. God makes his truths 
stand upon their own foundation, not on the patronage of 
the church or society. The New York Nation said some 
time ago, in an article on Garrison, that no one not living at 
that time could have any idea of the state of public opinion 
when that reformer began his work. It was a few fanatics 
on one side and all society on the other. I know that to be 
the fact, for I was myself one of the fanatics. Where is 
society now .'' The old prophets, with their long hair, their 
garments of sackcloth, and their denunciatory proclamations 
in the market places, were the "cranks" of their time, and 
very repulsive ones too ; yet God made them his mouth- 
piece. What more uncouth than John the Baptist, wearing 
a goat skin and living on locusts and wild honey as he wan- 
dered about ; and yet he was the forerunner and herald of 
Christ. And when Christ came he was called a glutton and 
wine-bibber, and was despised and rejected of men. Hear 
what Paul says : 

" Not many wise after the flesh, not many mighty, not 
many noble, are called ; but God hath chosen the foolish 



CONNECTICUT S FIRST CONSTITUTION. 71 

things of the world, that he might put to shame them that 
are wise ; and God hath chosen the weak things of the 
world, that he might put to shame things that are strong ; 
and the base things of the world and the things that are 
despised hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, 
to bring to naught the things that are." I. Cor., i, 26-7-8. 

All who come to save the world must expect to be assailed 
as gluttons and wine-bibbers, or with other terms of con- 
tempt ; but they will be none the less the commissioned serv- 
ants of God. Remember then, ye who would be builders 
for God in the state, in society, in the church, that you are 
to encounter the sneers of society and the antagonism of 
that church which is dear to us all, and are to find hosts of 
supporters with whom you have little in common, many of 
whom you must regard with utter disgust, but are to have 
the great comfort of feeling that God is with you and that 
the future will bless you. Christ was willing for the sake of 
truth to become of "no reputation." Are we.'' 

But let us be comforted with the assurance that the toil 
and self-abnegation and self-sacrifice of noble and consecra- 
ted souls will not be lost. Under a great divine purpose, 
that has run through the ages, the world is moving on to 
the completeness of its deliverance. All redemptions come 
by crucifixions. Blessed are the crucified. Christ told his 
followers that in the latter days there would be a great 
spiritual experience among men. Our greatest philosopher, 
Fiske, gives it as the result of his profound studies, that 
man's physical development is complete, and that his de- 
velopment in the future is to be of his inward nature. Thus 
the last word of the best philosophy of the day accords with 
the prophetic word of eighteen centuries ago. And God's 
word is pledged, and his nature too, for the final triumph of 
good. 

There is then a great final good to which the world is 
tending, and its progress toward which we can aid by our 
endeavors. All that poets have dreamed, all that seers have 
beheld in their visions, is to be finally realized. The king- 



72 25OTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ADOPTION OF 

doms of this world are to become the kingdoms of Christ 
our Lord. 

I once, in sad and thoughtful mood, 
Stood in an old-world solitude, 
Amidst the scattered ruins vast 
Of a great empire of the past. 

I)Ut now, with feeling more intense, 

I watch the gathering elements 

Of a grand empire yet to be, 

World-clasping in immensity. 

That empire shall be Love and Peace ; 

Its sway begun shall never cease ; 

No drum beats shall its morns salute ; 

No trumpets shall their clangor bruit ; 

But, following the circling sun. 

Each day shall be with song begun ; 

A song of praise, Oh God, to Thee ; 

A song that shall unbroken be. 

Save by the deep-toned anthem of the sea. 



Mr. Robinson : 

That is the kind of a lawyer we have in Hartford ! You see 
he can preach better than the ministers, and write poetry better 
than the poets ! 



Mr. RoriiNSON : 

We have heard a great deal to-day in praise of the general 
court, and we can never hear it praised too much. We are for- 
tunate to-night it having its gifted speaker with us, and we will 
hear from John H. Perry, Speaker of the House of Representa- 
tives. 



CONNECTICUT S FIRST CONSTITUTION. 73 



ADDRESS. 

BY S-PEAKER PERRY. 

Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen : 

The power of little things has become proverbial. The 
diminutive beginning from which has sprung our native 
State, that prosperous and influential unit in the grandest 
country upon earth, has inspired an eloquence to-day which 
is unexcelled even by that of its unrivalled founders. The 
acorn and the mustard seed have begotten trees and meta- 
phors with striking impartiality since literature first began. 

But among those small things, the first of which is out of 
all proportion to their size, the misused monosyllable bears 
preeminence. 

I beg you, therefore, to remember that while with two 
associates I have the honor to represent on this occasion 
the lower branch of the General Assembly, I am the Speaker 
of, and not the Speaker for, the House, 

In my official capacity nothing in the way of speech mak- 
ing is expected of me, but silence, and very little of that. 

It has occurred to me, however, since sitting here to-night, 
the predestined victim of your monosyllabic error, that after 
all I ought to be heard of this audience briefly, for I repre- 
sent in the -General Assembly that town to which the three 
original towns which you represent contributed Roger Lud- 
low, the commonly accredited author of our ancient Consti- 
tution. 

Following the soldiers who on the present site of my 
native village broke the last remnant of Pequot power in 
Connecticut, Roger Ludlow founded Fairfield. 
10 



74 250Tn ANNIVERSARY OF THE ADOPTION OF 

From almost that day to the present time I have not 
lacked an ancestor resident in the town. 

I am inclined to presume, therefore, a little upon this an- 
cient link of cousinship between us. 

Never having had any constitution myself worth mention- 
ing, I have sat to-day and fairly hugged myself to think that 
I belonged to something which had one so well worth cele- 
brating — a Constitution now replaced only because it was 
in part too rigorous. 

Whose vines have ever produced such shade and fruit as 
ours have .'' 

There is no self-governed nation on the face of the earth 
to-day which does not sit under their shade, and misses not 
the fig tree. 

But that instrument, the birth of which you have just 
celebrated, creates a body which shall twice each year, to 
use its own language, " agitate the affairs of the Common- 
wealth." I represent to-night the lineal descendant of that 
body. 

They do not permit the descendant to sit but one-quarter 
as often as the ancestor. It revenges itself by sitting four 
times as long. 

Its paternity is unmistakable. It still agitates the affairs 
of the commonwealth with inherited aptitude and increasing 
vigor. 

To this body the instrument which represents the one now 
celebrated needs to be introduced early in the session, but 
becomes a familiar acquaintance long before its close. 

That instrument, and one of the towns from which it 
emanated, provoke kindred suggestions in the legislative 
mind. We are cribbed, cabined, and confined by it. We 
press restlessly against its bars. It is the vantage ground 
from which the haughty legal member is enabled to rout his 
enthusiastic and progressive lay associate and march off in 
specious triumph. 

It is remorselessly thrust in the face of the brave reformer, 
and made in endless ways obnoxious to the upper rows 
because so flippantly invincible. 



CONNECTICUT S FIRST CONSTITUTION. 75 

The earnest suburban member who goes to his General 
Court fraught with schemes for the amelioration of the pub- 
lic and the benefit of his fellow men finds much to quarrel 
with in it. It is prone to stop him just short of perpetual 
renown upon the statute book. As wielded in the House it 
is a ruthless weapon. It cuts down those who think them- 
selves most entitled to a hearing, who feel prepared to do 
their State the most good, who are the most ambitious. 

Speaking for the lower branch of the General Assembly, 
I am bound in truth to say this much. 

It is difificult for us to " agitate the affairs of the Common- 
wealth " as we would like to on account of it. While it may 
be the charter of your liberties it is a galling fetter upon 
ours. 

But I ought to trespass upon your time no longer. When 
you have so kindly invited a stranger to come within 3'our 
doors, he should come in quickly and shut them, letting in 
as little wind as possible in the process. 

In conclusion, therefore, I beg to say that having heard 
your city so eloquently baptized to-day as the very birthplace 
of democracy, the body which I represent, constituted as it 
is this year, feels strangely out of place here and apologizes 
for its intrusion. 

Mr. Robinson: 

As you all know, we ran along under the old charter of 166.2 
until 18 18. I have claimed for the founders that they had very 
high ideas of religious freedom. I spoke relatively. I'hey had 
ideas far in advance of their times. But they, too, were in straight- 
jackets ; and we ran along with the old charter until by and by 
that straight-jacket began to chafe so much that it could not be 
worn, and the old toleration party started, and to that party we 
are largely indebted for the charter of 1818, which recognized all 
men as free in religious matters, and forbade preferences to any 
sect of Christians. The old toleration party and the Constitution 
were ably advocated by a newspaper published in this city. We 
have its editor here to-night. He has been an editor for fifty 



"^6 25OTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ADOPTION OF 

)'ears. He has been a leader of his political party for a quarter of 
a century. He has been offered political honors, but he has de- 
clined them. He has raised his journal to a position which may 
well excite envy in the journals of the country. It is an honor to 
any State. Now in a ripe age, but by no means in any feebleness, 
he lives in the enjoyment of the respect and affection of all the 
good people of this city. I take great pleasure in introducing 
Alfred E, Burr, 



CONNECTICUT S FIRST CONSTITUTION. // 



ADDRESS. 

BY HON. ALFRED E. BURR. 

I feel a little embarrassed, Mr. Chairman, on rising, after 
the very flattering remarks that our chairman has made with 
regard to myself. I feel quite undeserving of such compli- 
ments as he has seen fit to pay to me personally. I should 
hardly have been upon this platform this evening, fellow 
citizens, were it not for the fact that two of my ancestors — 
Benjamin Burr, on my father's side, and Thomas Olcott, on 
my mother's side, came to Hartford in 1635, one year before 
Thomas Hooker came here. They came with that company 
from Newtown, who had a hard time of four or five months 
in getting here, leaving Newtown — Cambridge now — in 
June, and arriving here, I think, in October. 

Well, sir, we feel a pride in our ancestors. We all feel a 
j^ride in the men whose ability and foresight inaugurated 
the organic law on which the United States government, in 
its federative principles, was founded in later years. We 
feel a pride in the integrity, the religious principles, the 
firmness, the valor, the intrepidity of those men who came 
here to settle this new country. 

All that can be said has been said by the Rev, Mr. Twich- 
ell in his excellent paper delivered to-day. I have read 
that address with very great pleasure. He leaves nothing 
for us to say with regard to the dignity, the statesmanship, 
the valor of those men and of the great work that they accom- 
plished. But will you permit me, in the five or ten minutes 
allotted me to-night, to say a word on the other side — 
touchinir some of the faults of the men who came here to 



78 25OTII ANNIVERSARY OF THE ADOPTION OF 

settle this country 250 odd years ago? I refer to their 
social relations — to something that has not perhaps been 
alluded to to-day by the orators who have spoken on this 
interesting occasion. 

Your chairman, for instance, has spoken of the great con- 
test that was waged in 1817, when our Constitution was 
formed. It was the Toleration party, known as the Tolera- 
tion party — not a political party of the Federalists or Re- 
publicans, but a "Toleration party" that made the Consti- 
tution of 1818; and, as your chairman has said, the Times 
was established as a Toleration paper ; it was established in 
order to secure what the tolerationists believed they were 
entitled to — religious freedom. Perhaps th^t is too strong 
a term, Mr. Chairman. They wanted to be relieved from 
the taxes which the Congregational Church imposed upon 
all denominations, unless they came before the clerk of the 
society and took an oath, or gave a certificate that they did 
not belong to that society. So the Episcopalians, Method- 
ists, and Baptists, all joined and opposed the Presbyterians 
and Congregationalists — for it came to that, and they 
secured our constitution, in which is, I believe, three sections, 
protecting free religious opinions. 

But our old friends of 250 years ago were not tolerant ; 
they were not so tolerant as we are to-day. I believe that the 
world moves. I believe that society is better to-day ; that the 
world is better to-day than it was 250 years ago. I believe 
there has been progress in that time. The men who came 
here and ran away from religious intolerance, were intolerant 
themselves on some occasions. For instance : Thomas 01- 
cott was a constable about the time they founded the consti- 
tution that we are praising so highly, and he led a posse of 
ten assistants against the Dutch who had settled a few years 
prior to the time when he came here. When they came out 
with their cattle to plow the lands on the hillsides by the 
Connecticut River, he took his posse of constables, and with 
sticks and clubs beat the cattle over their heads until he 
drove them out of their yokes ; he broke their chains ; he 



Connecticut's first constitution. 79 

set them adrift, and he despoiled the fields of the Dutchmen, 
and drove them off, because they did not assimilate in their 
religion and social relations with his company of English- 
men. He would not let them plow ; he persecuted them, 
and was not tolerant. And they certainly were not very 
tolerant in their religious views at that time. 

Now, if you will permit me, Mr. Chairman, speaking of 
the social condition of those times, I find in this little volume 
of the Olcotts an account of the death of the father of 
Thomas Olcott's wife, David Porter, of England. He came 
over here to visit his daughter, and was drowned in the Con- 
necticut river ; they buried him, and there is an account re- 
ported to the county court of the funeral expenses of that 
occasion, which you will pardon me for reading, to show the 
items and social relations and state of society at that time. 
It was about the year 1678. The wife of Thomas Olcott 
was still living, but her father was drowned ; and this is an 
account of what was expended on David Porter for the re- 
covery of his body and burial : 

" By a pint of liquor to those who dived for him, i shilling. By a quart of 
liquor to those who brought him home, 2 shillings. By 2 quarts of wine, a 
gallon of cider, to the jury of inquest, 5 shillings." 

While they sat on the "late lamented," they took some- 
thing to drink, and enjoyed themselves ! It would be a sin- 
gular fact to see a scene of that kind in these modern days, 
Mr. Chairman. The bill adds, for the funeral : 

" By 2 quarts of wine, and a gallon of cider to the jury. By 8 gallons and 3 
quarts of wine for the funeral. Cost, i pound and 15 shillings. By a barrel 
of cider for the funeral, 16 shillings. By i colitin, 12 shillings. By a winding 
sheet, 18 shillings." 

That sheet cost more than the coffin ! 

"To pay for the grave, 5 shillings. Total, 4 pounds, 14 shillings, and 4 
pence. Given into the court at Hartford, December 9, 1678, by the son of my 
mother, Mrs. Olcott, per me, Thomas Olcott" (son of the original Olcott). 



80 25OTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ADOPTION OF 

Here was more money expended for liquor than for the 
coffin and grave and all the other expenses of the funeral. 
Well, in many respects, we look back to those old men as 
better than ourselves, and we are urged to tread in the paths 
they trod. But where, oh where was the Prohibition party 
at that early day ? 

Mr. Robinson : 

And where was the Temperance Union } 

Mr. Burr: 

There was no Temperance Union, Mr. Chairman, I don't 
think those old men got intoxicated, but they, in their dreary 
lives along the banks of the river, where they had hardly 
enough to eat, where the country was undeveloped, where 
the tomahawk and the scalping knife were always flirted in 
their faces, where they were surrounded by dangers, — they 
" took a little" on special occasions ; for instance, at funerals. 

Now, this old man Olcott — I do not wish to defend him 
on account of relationship — he was a merchant ; he came 
over here, and he dealt in goods and real estate ; he loaned 
money. He was worth $7,500 when he died — and that 
was a great fortune then — more than $700,000 would be 
now ; and in his will he said the Lord lent him the money, 
but he got big interest on it ! And in the account of his 
household effects he had houses and lands in Greenfield, 
in Windsor. He had buildings there also. 

Mr. Robinson : 

No doubt. Judge Hayden will tell you just where Green- 
field was. 

Judge Hayden : 

It is called Bloomficld now. 

Mr. Burr: 

There he had two farms ; and he had a prayer-book, two 
bibles, two jugs, and a warming-pan, and four " chayres," two 
candlesticks and snuffers. Well, those were primitive times. 
Now, gentlemen, it is not fair, perhaps, to represent those 
men precisely in this light. They were stalwart men — 
strong men in will power and in vindicating what they be- 



Connecticut's first constitution. 8i 

lieved to be right. They did a good many things that we 
commencT. In their federative system, in the confederation 
of the towns, they laid the foundation of our Federal gov- 
ernment, as has been stated. There was John Mason, who 
came a little later. What did he do ? He came up to Hart- 
ford. He had learned something of military science from 
the Dutch, He had been in their employ as a military man. 
He raised ninety men in Hartford, forty men at Saybrook, 
and Uncas gave him thirty Indians, and he went around in 
a schooner to New London. What did he do with all this 
military force .'' He gathered up all the straw and dry 
hay, and he piled it up one night over the huts of the 
Pequots ; he covered their dwellings with this combustible 
matter, and set it on fire. When the Indians came out, 
blistered, and their hair on fire, he shot them down — killed 
them on the spot — then burned up their women and chil- 
dren ! Now you would say that was rather harsh treatment, 
wouldn't you .'' 
Mr. Robinson. 

The Indians did some pretty mean things first, though. 
Mr. Burr. 

I don't know but you and I would have done the same 
thing. Possibly it would have saved our scalps. They were 
obliged, in defending themselves, to resort to some harsh 
measures. I only mention it to show what those men in 
that day could do. The Pequots, the ugliest of the tribes, 
were as bad as the Mohawks — though Uncas was friendly 
and called off some of the tribe. He was an Indian seceder. 
The Pequots would have scalped and murdered that entire 
white settlement had not some such harsh means as Mason 
resorted to been taken to destroy those Indians. But I 
mention this incident to show that those men, who risked 
everything here, were ready to defend their lives, and to 
carry the war in among the Indians, if it was necessary, and 
they did so. And they turned out strong men who followed 



82 250TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ADOPTION OF 

after them. We have felt the impress of those early men 
all over this country. There was Ethan Allen. He relied 
upon "Jehovah and the Continental Congress." They 
were deeply devoted Christians, those men ; pious men ; 
they would pray, and fight, and not yield. Allen, he carried 
our institutions up into Vermont. There they are to-day. 
Vermont and Connecticut are almost alike in their institu- 
tions, in their representation, in the titles to their laws. 
Connecticut town names are all over Vermont. Ethan 
Allen was one of those men who made that State about 
what it was. Then there was Capt. Wadsworth. The 
Governor of New York sent an agent here to govern Con- 
necticut, in the early time ; and when he came to make this 
colony obey, Wadsworth told his drummers to beat their 
drums and make a terrible racket, and he then turned to 
this New York agent and said, " If you interrupt this drum- 
ming I will put daylight through you " : and the agent went 
back to New York ; he did not put his hand upon Connecti- 
cut. I speak of this as a little incident showing the char- 
acter of the men in those early days. They had great 
obstacles to contend with, and they met them as the 
obstacles came before them, and they triumphed ; and I now 
feel, Mr. Chairman, in view of what the orators of the day 
and the gentlemen who have spoken, have told us, very 
proud of what Connecticut has done in laying the founda- 
tions of a great, broad government — a nation greater, 
broader, and better than any nation in this world, with all 
the resources necessary to support, not only sixty millions, 
but one hundred millions and two hundred millions of 
people within her own borders. Her fisheries, her iron in 
the mountains, her metals, gold and silver, her coal and 
natural riches of every kind — are resources that no other 
government in this world is possessed of ; resources by 
which this people could sustain themselves if there was a 
wall around this country as high as that of China. We have 
this free government; we have prosperity; we have the 
great devjlopraents of riches from ocean to ocean, and every 



CONNECTICUT S FIRST CONSTITUTION. 83 

resource that a people may need and be proud of — and all 
this has grown out of the little three towns, they tell us ! 
And well may we be proud of the men who settled in Hart- 
ford, Windsor, and Wethersfield. 

Mr. Robinson. 

We are fortunate to-night in having with us a representative of 
the old colony — the old mother colony, the old Bay State which 
we all love. He bears two honored Connecticut names : one 
Bushnell, one of the greatest sons of Connecticut or of America ; 
the other Hart. He represents Harvard, the oldest of our New 
England Universities, and, while we feel it our duty to whip her 
every year on the foot-ball field, and base-ball field, and at New 
London in the regattas, still we hold old Cambridge and Harvard 
in the highest affection and esteem. I take pleasure in introduc- 
ing to-night Prof. Albert Bushnell Hart, of Cambridge. 



84 25OTII ANNIVERSARY OF THE ADOPTION OF 



ADDRESS. 



BY PROFESSOR HART. 



Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen : 

The chairman has graciously introduced me as a repre- 
sentative of Harvard College ; but I stand here to-night also 
by another title, namely, that of a lineal descendant of six 
sturdy citizens of Connecticut, all of whom lived in or near 
Hartford County ; and as one brought up in the wider Con- 
necticut of the Ohio Western Reserve, 

Harvard College and Cambridge have a peculiar reason 
for interest in this celebration. The orator to-day, in words 
which seemed to carve out before our eyes and to set before 
us Thomas Hooker as a living man, in words of eloquence 
stirring, forceful, the orator to-day was talking about a Cam- 
bridge man ; and it is perhaps not too much to say, Mr. 
Chairman, that had Thomas Hooker waited one year, instead 
of having founded the commonwealth of Connecticut, he 
might have been the first president of Harvard College. 
And Harvard has another reason for feeling grateful to those 
who two hundred and fifty years ago came together to form 
an organic law for their infant commonwealth : for, shortly 
after this time, the little college became very much embar- 
rassed ; there was distress so great that they appealed to 
the towns of Massachusetts and of the other colonies to 
help them ; and there stands to this day upon the treasurer's 
book of receipts an item which sliows the sort of contribu- 
tion which came to them. It reads thus : " Received, a goat 
30 shillings, of the plantation of Watertowne rate, which 



Connecticut's first constitution. 85 

died." At that time Harvard College appealed also to the 
frontier settlements in Connecticut, and we find that those 
settlements out of their poverty generously subscribed and 
brought a contribution of "corn, for the poor scholars in 
Cambridge." The gratitude of Harvard College was ex- 
pressed for upwards of sixty years in a practical way by 
educating Connecticut boys to fill the places of the Hookers 
and Davenports as they passed away. Then came Yale 
College, which took up that work, and has well carried it 
through. The fathers of the Massachusetts men and of the 
Connecticut men shared alike in the hardships and sacrifices 
of those early days, and Massachusetts and Connecticut men 
share alike in the triumphs and prosperity of the present 
day ; for the success of Yale College, and of Wesleyan and 
Trinity, is the success of sound learning and good education, 
and it is a success in which we of Massachusetts take as 
much pleasure and pride as you of Connecticut. 

And now let me turn to the other side of the great 
constituency which I represent. I have spoken for the 
East : let me say a word for the West. There are various 
kinds of constitutions. I presume you will know the classic 
story about an honorable member from the State of New 
York who approached Theodore Roesevelt in the New York 
Legislature a few years ago, and asked his support for a cer- 
tain measure. Mr. Roesevelt said : " I cannot ; it would be 
unconstitutional," " Ah," said the Hon. Tim So-and-So, 
"but what is a little thing like the constitution between 
friends .'' " A Frenchman once undertook to prepare a con- 
stitution for his country in two articles. "Article ist. All 
Frenchmen shall be virtuous. Article 2d. All French- 
men shall be happy." The first article has never been com- 
pletely carried out; and, judging from the reports of the 
Panama Canal, the second article is not fulfilled in any 
better fashion. Another Frenchman, still living, Rochcfort, 
embodied his constitution also in two articles. " Article 
1st: Nobody must do anything. Article 2d: Nobody 
enforces the f(jre2:oin2: article." 



86 25OTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ADOPTION OF 

The framers of the organic law for these three common- 
wealths were not deceived by any such illusions as to the 
character of human nature and the probable virtue of the 
w^iole community, nor were they inclined to favor anarchy. 
The constitution which we are discussing, which we have 
heard read to-day, whose history we have heard so well 
described, that constitution contains principles of good 
order and common sense, for which every Western State 
should be grateful, because every Western State has incor- 
porated them. The vine which you see upon the shield of 
Connecticut is one of those running vines, which puts down 
a shoot; it takes root, and that puts down another; and so 
the constitution adopted two hundred and fifty years ago is 
traveling from State to State, and from community to com- 
munity, throughout the West. The men who framed that 
constitution were not framing it for Windsor and Hartford 
and Wethersfield : they were making a constitution for 
Ohio and Iowa and Dakota. In the name of the mother 
State, which sent out the first colonies, and in the name 
of these daughter States of the West, which owe so much to 
the Connecticut spirit, as well as to the Connecticut Con- 
stitution, I most heartily congratulate you upon this two 
hundred and fiftieth anniversary of a great occasion. 

Mr. Robinson : 

We have two more speakers, both of whom will interest us. 
First, one for this old town of Hartford, which for 255 years, as 
Newtov/n and Hartford, as town and city, has been a fountain of 
intelligence, benevolence, freedom, and sense, which is now a 
model city, and which I may say in all its municipal history has 
never been invaded by rings, by corrupt judges, or corrupt officials. 
We are all proud of it ; and we are glad to see here its first execu- 
tive officer, his Honor Mayor Root, and shall be happy to hear a 
word from him to-night. (Applause.) 



Connecticut's first constitution, 8y 



ADDRESS. 

BY MAYOR ROOT. 

Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen : 

As we look back on the line of history for 250 years, and 
recall the early struggles, privations, and hardships of those 
noble men who guided the destinies of that colony, which 
included Hartford, Windsor, and Wethersfield, and whose 
lofty genius gave birth to a constitution of self-government, 
and, beginning from it, during two centuries and a half has 
grown a fearless and prosperous commonwealth, well may we 
rejoice and take pride in celebrating this event, which is the 
foundation of our unparalleled development, — not in wealth 
alone, but in intelligence and virtue. The men of that colony 
have passed away, but the principles as embodied in that 
first constitution have been perpetuated by a fitting ancestry 
whom you represent. Many of those men were leaders ; 
and their examples live on, arousing and influencing the liv- 
ing. All remote history is imperishable. The same spirit 
which animated the people of that period was handed down 
to the Revolution ; and later on, during our own time, in that 
great struggle in the defence of a free government and the 
maintenance of the Union, these three towns, imbued with 
the spirit of their forefathers, loyal and patriotic, sent into 
the field in the late war 4,500 brave and determined soldiers, 
and on nearly all the great battle-fields they were repre- 
sented. We have reason to feel grateful to those early set- 
tlers who found their way to and landed upon the banks of the 
Connecticut ; and we to-day are enjoying the privileges of a 
prosperous community, with all the advantages which com- 
fort, happiness, educational advantages, and charitable insti- 
tutions and good government afford. 



88 25oth anniversary of the adoption of 

Mr. Robinson : 

We have letters here to-night, but it is too late to read them. 
They will be printed with the pamphlet which will give an account 
of the occasion. They are from distinguished gentlemen, our 
guests, guests of the society. We regret also the absence of his 
Honor the Lieutenant-Governor of the State. We are proud to see 
that the Executive of the State is here, and he has kindly served 
us to-day by reading the Constitution ; and our evening will be 
concluded by an address, and our meeting would not be charac- 
teristic or proper if we did not hear from him, — from the distin- 
guished Senator of Connecticut, loyal to the old memories, 
devoted to all progress, good man, good soldier, good citizen — 
Joseph R. Hawley. 



Connecticut's first constitution. 89 



ADDRESS. 

BY HON. JOSEPH R. HAWLEY, U.S.S. 

[Reported in Hartford Courani, Januaiy 25tli.] 

General Hawlcy was greeted by hearty applause. He 
said that after witnessing their enthusiastic reception of 
Mr. Burr, he felt that there was hope for him. Mr. Burr 
may have made mistakes in politics — at all events in his 
prophecies sometimes — but outside of politics, in every 
movement for the good of the community, nobody can find 
fault with the Hon. A. E. Burr. (Applause.) 

General Hawley remarked that he felt a thousand times 
repaid for coming on to witness this celebration. The 
worship of Connecticut's history had been a passion with 
him. He had known nothing concerning the preparations 
for this celebration, but had hoped that everything would be 
well done. And now he felt like one who has partaken 
of an abundant meal. He had been more than satisfied 
with Mr. Twichell's eloquent oration. 

Down there [referring to his life in the U. S. Senate], 
among thirty-seven rivals, he had always asserted that no 
State has a history which can compare with that of Con- 
necticut, Is there a nation like it "^ Look at France, 
sometimes a republic, sometimes a monarchy ; who can 
count the changes in her government .'' And Great 
Britain has changed more in 50 years than Connecticut 
in 250. It was true, as stated, that Mr. Twichell had 
not left much for others to say, but there were some 
matters of which he (Hawley) was in the habit of boasting, 
which Mr. Twichell did not allude to, because, for one 
reason, they were too modern. A State may be visited 
by a flood or an epidemic ; the first thing is to introduce 
12 



90 25OTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ADOPTION OF 

a resolution in Congress granting national aid. Why, a 
State, imperial in its domain, had a little drouth, and a 
bill was actually passed granting money with which to buy 
seed corn. Is there anything of that kind in Connecticut ? 
And so with pleuro-pncumonia and with epidemics among 
the people. The Connecticut answer to the requests for 
government aid is, " What have you done for yourselves .'' 
Where is your State board of health ? " And then States 
come begging in aid of education, to which we have always 
considered it our first duty as a State to attend. Then 
there is the matter of a military force, ready for emergen- 
cies ; many States have none at all ; here is a little force 
of 2,500 men, all thoroughly drilled, with guns and all other 
equipments, ready to take the cars at a moment's notice. 

General Hawley continued by saying that there were 
certain peculiar views in which he delighted. He liked 
to see how our young men have gone west, and have always 
been certain to come to the front as leaders. They have 
learned how to hold meetings ; can take the chair, appoint 
committees, and decide points of order. He had been 
taunted in Congress with strikes, but fortunately here we 
have had but little of these. One reason for this is because 
there is no want or grievance which cannot find relief. It 
is repression that makes trouble and strikes, and rebellions. 
After alluding to the curious town organization of Connecti- 
cut he spoke of the resemblance between the constitution of 
Connecticut and that of the United States. 

He closed by saying that he was rejoiced, he was glad of 
this meeting, and he hoped that there would be in all our 
public schools a volume containing the history of Connecti- 
cut, written without political bias, showing its fidelity to the 
fundamental principles of civil liberty, for the instruction of 
those who are coming to our shores from foreign countries 
and who are born here of foreign parentage, and whom we 
must teach to become children of Connecticut. He ex- 
tended the regrets of Senators Piatt, Hoar, and Evarts at 
their inability to be present. 



CONNECTICUT'S FIRST CONSTITUTION. QI 



LETTERS OF REGRET. 



Froini Edward E. Hale. 

RoxBURY, Mass., Jan. 21, 1S89. 

My Dear Sir, — I regret extremely that I am not able to ac- 
cept the invitation of the Connecticut Historical Society for 
Thursday evening, January 24th. 

The occasion is one most interesting to every student ot 
American History, and I am very glad that the society has 
arranged to recognize it by appropriate services. 

Has your attention been called to the interesting notice which 
Mr Bryce makes on the adoption of the first constitution of Con- 
necticut, which he says, I suppose rightly, is the first written con- 
stitution in the history of the world. 

Very truly yours, 

Edward E. Hale. 



From Robert C. Winthrop. 

Boston, Mass., Jan. 7, 18S9. 
J. Hammond Trumbull, Esq., LL.D., President. 

My Dear Sir, — I am greatly honored and obliged by the invi- 
tation for the 24th inst. It would afford me pleasure to attend 
the commemoration of so interesting an anniversary. But I am 
constrained to deny myself, and can only offer my thanks and re- 
grets to the Connecticut Historical Society. Believe me, 
Respectfully and truly yours, 

Robert C. Winthrop. 



92 25oth anniversary of the adoption of 

From Dr. George E. Ellis. 

Boston, Mass., Jan. 21, 1SS9. 
To THE Secretary of the Connecticut Historical Society. 

Dear Sir, — Did my engagements permit I should have much 
satisfaction in accepting your kind invitation, by participating in 
tlie commemoration of the adoption of the First Constitution of 
Connecticut. But I am compelled to deny myself the pleasure 

of it. 

Sincerely yours, 

George E. Ellis. 



From Hon. George F. Hoar. 

Washington, D. C, Jan. 21, 1S89. 
To THE Secretary of Connecticut Historical Society. 

Afy Dear Sir, — I am very sorry that my public engagements 
prevent me from taking part in the celebration of the two hun- 
dred and fiftieth anniversary of the adoption of the Constitution 
of Connecticut, January 24, 1889. 

No public event except the planting of my own State at Ply- 
mouth could be nearer to my heart than the founding of Connec- 
ticut, in whose history I feel a pride scarcely less than filial. 

Your learned and famous society will fitly perform the duty of 
commemorating the event of the adoption of that constitution, 
which was so important in the history of constitutional liberty,, 
I shall read the report of the proceedings with great interest. 

I am faithfully yours, 

Georcje F. Hoar. 



From John Bach McMaster. 

Philadelphia, Penn., Jan. 22, 1S89. 
To the Secretary Connecticut Historical Society. 

Dear Sir, — I am much honored by the kind invitation of the 
Connecticut Historical Society to be present, on the afternoon of 
Thursday next, at the commemoratory exercises, and regret, very 
sincerely, that college duties will make it impossible to attend. 

Very truly, 

John Bach McMaster. 



connecticut s first constitution. 93 

From D. Williams Patterson. 

Newark Valley, N. Y., Jan. 22, 1SS9. 
The Connecticut Historical Society. 

I regret exceedingly my inability to meet the Connecticut His- 
torical Society in Hartford on Thursday, 24th inst. 

I have now lived so long in the State of New York, where the 
town is as powerless as a wax doll in the grip of the county, that 
I would greatly enjoy a few words in favor of the town as the 
foundation of civil government. 

I hope everything will be thoroughly enjoyed by the members 
and guests of the society, and I will look for my pleasure at the 
printed reports. 

Sincerely, 

D. Williams Pattitrson. 



From Justin Winsor. 

74 Sparks Street, Cami'.ridc.e. 

Mr. Justin Winsor regrets that a previous engagement prevents 
his accepting your kind invitation to your anniversary on 
Thursday, 24th January, 1889. 



From Judge W. S. Shurtleff. 

Springfield, Mass., Jan. 21, 1SS9. 

Dear Sir, — I am complimented by an invitation to be present 
at the ceremonies in commemoration of the adoption, two hun- 
dred and fifty years ago, of the first constitution of your State, 
and should be very glad, but shall be unable, to attend on an oc- 
casion certain to be interesting to all of your society and your 
guests, and surely to be pleasant to me, not only because of the 
intellectual feast to be furnished and the intercourse to be enjoyed 
with many old friends, but because I, as a "son of Yale," cherish 
memories of my Connecticut .life that are among the most pleas- 
ant of my amassing. 

Born in Vermont, educated, for the most important part, in 
Connecticut, and a long time resident in Massachusetts, I am a 
loyal New Englander, naturally; Init, also, by conviction, result- 



94 25OTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ADOPTION OF 

ing from historical study and reflection, I have come to regard 
each and every of the States that form New England as excep- 
tional communities. State by State, as stars whose light, long 
seeking through space its revelation, appear to astronomical ob- 
servation, New England shone out upon the throne-burdened 
world — the constellation of Liberty, forever to be, in the politi- 
cal heavens (the two last words need not be incompatible com- 
panions) — a monition to the oppressor and a " sign " of hope to 
the oppressed — Connecticut as lustrous as any of the cluster. 

The boundary lines between us are only on the maps — the 
territorial division is only for convenience of local government. 
(Oh ! resolve away the recollection of that old disputed Hne !) 
The memory of our united struggles and common success in good 
causes should force us to forget that the surveyor's lines exist, 
and to determine that they shall not separate us socially. Suc- 
cess to your celebration. Surcease to State jealousies and in- 
crease to New England/>;« in New England and the world over, 
is the wish of 

Yours, very gratefully, for the courtesy extended by your bid- 
der to your feast, 

William S. Shurtleff. 



From Edward Channing. 

Camisridge, Mass, Jan. 23, 1SS9. 
To TUE Connecticut Historical Society. 

Gentlemen, — I regret it is not in my power to accept your kind 
invitation to take part in your commemoration of the first consti- 
tution of Connecticut. The passing of the preamble and eleven 
orders by the freemen of Connecticut two hundred and fifty years 
ago, forms an important landmark in our constitutional history. 
In these clays especially, when the tendency is toward centraliza- 
tion, it is well to go back to the old time and see with what 
jealous care our fathers safeguarded the rights and liberties of 
communities. The joining together of the three towns also forms 
an important epoch in the history of federation. 

Again thanking you for your invitation, I remain 

Very truly yours, 

Edward Channing. 



Connecticut's first constitution. 95 

From Trof. Alexander Johnston. 

Princeton, N. J., Jan. 21, 18S9. 
The Connfxticut Historical Society. 

Gentlemen, — A lingering convalescence leaves me unable to 
comply with your summons to meet on Thursday of this week 
with others who believe they see peculiar importance in the politi- 
cal history of Connecticut, to celebrate the two hundred and 
fiftieth anniversary of the formation of the first constitution of 
that commonwealth. The democratic nature of that constitution 
has long been insisted upon ; and the untiring acuteness of one 
of your own distinguished members, Dr. J. Hammond Trumbull, 
has given Thomas Hooker his proper place as master of the 
work. I have stated elsewhere the grounds for my own belief 
that the sound pplitical principles of a people trained for one 
hundred and fifty years under that constitution resulted, in 1787, 
in giving its bi-cameral character, one of its most essential fea- 
tures, to the Constitution of the United States. The seed planted 
by Thomas Hooker has given us not only the three vines of Con- 
necticut, but the statelier plant of the Union. With many thanks 
for your invitation, I am 

Sincerely yours, 

Alexander Johnston. 



From Ex-Gov. Henry B. Harrison. 

New H/Wen, Jan. 22, 1SS9. 

Dear Sir, — i:\i\?, morning I received your letter of the 20th 
inst., inviting me to take part in the proposed commemoration of 
the great act done at Hartford two hundred and fifty years ago, in 
the establishment of the first formal written constitution of gov- 
ernment ever made in America. 

If it were possible, I should be most happy to unite with my 
fellow citizens in celebrating that event — so memorable in the his- 
tory of Connecticut, and so signal in the history of constitutional 
government among nations. Circumstances beyond my control, 
however, compel me to decline, with the greatest regret, your 
courteous invitation. 

Very respectfully and truly yours, 

H. 13. Harrison. 



96 25oth anniversary of the adoption of 

From Dr. Noah Porter. 

New Haven, Conn., Jan. 22, 1S89. 
To Frank B. Gay, Esq., Secretary Connecticut Historical Society. 

My Dear Sir, — I hope to be present at the exercises of the 
Connecticut Historical Society on the 24th inst., but my voice is 
for the present in so uncertain a condition that I dare not under- 
take to make even a ten minutes' address. With thanks for the 
invitation. 

I am, very sincerely, yours, 

Noah Porter. 



From President Geo. Williamson Smith. 

Hartford, Conn., Jan. 22, 1SS9. 
Mr. Frank B. Gay, Secretary Connecticut Historical Society. 

My Dear Sir, — The invitation to the reception of the Conecti- 
cut Historical Society on Thursday evening, is received with 
thanks. I have other engagements for the evening, but will try to 
be present part of the time ; I regret, however, that I shall not be 
able to make a speech. 

RespectfuU}', your obedient servant, 

Geo. Williamson Smith. 



Fr(^m Bishop John Williams. 

Middletown, Jan. 21, 18S9. 
My Dear Mr. Hoadly. 

Sir, — I have received an invitation to be present at the two 
hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the adoption of the first con- 
stitution of our State. 

I am sorry not to be able to be present, for it is a most interest- 
ing and important occasion, but my engagements are such, that 
although I am to be in Hartford at a later hour that day, I can- 
not well reach there before the services would be over. 

I do not know that any reply is expected, but I should like to 
make some one interested understand that I appreciate fully the 
courtesy of the invitation, and am sorry not to be able to accept it. 

Faithfully yours, 

J. Williams. 



connecticut s first constitution. 97 

From Senator Platt. 

Washington, D. C, Jan. 21, 1889. 
My Dear Sir, — 1 fear that I shall be unable to attend the cele- 
bration on the 24th ; voting on the tariff may not be concluded, 
and whether it is or not, the question of what is to be done with 
the omnibus bill, which has now come over to the Senate, is upon 
me with all its perplexities. I regret this, for I want to come for 
my own enjoyment, very much. It may be that I can make a lay- 
ing trip, but I fear not. 

Very truly yours, 
O. H. Platt. 

From Ex-Gov. Charles R. Ingersoll. 

New Haven, Jan. 22, 1889. 
Frank IJ. Gay, Esq., Secretary Connecticut Historical Society. 

Dear Sir, — I regret that it will be impossible for me to attend 
the meeting of the Connecticut Historical Society in commemora- 
tion of the first constitution of Connecticut, to which I have 
received your kind invitation. 

The occasion is one in which I should be very glad to partici- 
pate if my engagements would permit me to do so. 
With thanks for your courtesy, I am 

Very truly yours, 

C. R. Ingersoll. 



From Judge Richard A. Wheeler. 

Stonington, Jan. 22, 1889. 
The Connecticut Historical Society. 

Messrs. — Accept my sincere thanks for your kind invitation to 
attend and participate in the commemoration of the two hundred 
and fiftieth anniversary of the adoption of the first constitution of 
Connecticut, on the twenty-fourth day of the present month. 

Be assured that it would afford me the highest satisfaction to be 
present and enjoy the anniversary, but the present condition of 
my health is such that I must forego the pleasure. 

Gratefully appreciating your cordial invitation, and ^vith assur- 
ance of high regard, I remain 

. Yours very truly, 

Richard A. Wheeler. 

13 



98 Connecticut's first constitution. 

From Hon. John M. Hall. 

Hartford, Jan. 22, 1SS9. 
Frank B. Gay, Esij., Secretary Connecticut Historical Society. 

My Dear S/r, — Your kind invitation to be present at the even- 
ing session of tlie celebration of tlie two hundred and fiftieili 
anniversary of the adoption of the first constitution is duly re- 
ceived. I regret that I shall be unable to be present in the even- 
ing, owing to other peremptory engagements Friday. 

Trusting that the celebration may be a success, I remain 

Yours very truly, 

John M. Hall, 



Mr. Rorinson : 

Now, we are not too old to give three cheers for the founders 
of the constitution, and then the band will give us " America." 

(Cheers and music given, and meeting adjourned.) 



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